MNRS Honors Dr. Lusk with a Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr. Lusk began teaching at the School of Nursing in 1969, after receiving her Master’s in Public Health from the University of Michigan. During her years of service as a faculty member, Dr. Lusk was instrumental in establishing a number of academic programs, including the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Completion Program and the Occupational Health Nursing (OHN) Master’s and Doctoral Programs. Over its 35 years of operation in three off-campus sites in Kalamazoo, Traverse City and Flint, MI, the BSN Completion Program enabled about two thousand nurses from diploma and associate’s degree programs to earn a BSN while continuing to work. The OHN programs were instituted in response to an invitation from the NIOSH-funded (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health) Educational Resource Center at the University formed by the School of Public Health and the College of Engineering. Both OHN programs are still offered today and continue to provide essential training for nurses who will work toward creating and maintaining safe and healthy work environments.

 

In addition to her contributions to the School of Nursing, Dr. Lusk is recognized for a career of important research in the area of workers’ personal protective behaviors. Dr. Lusk first became interested in behavior and behavior change while earning her PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1979. This interest translated into healthcare research through her concern that while many hazards are present at the worksite, workers often do not protect themselves using the available equipment and precautions. Her initial studies were descriptive in nature, and sought to understand the factors that influence the behaviors of factory workers in regards to their use of protection at the worksite.

 

The primary focus of Dr. Lusk’s research emerged out of a subsequent study with construction workers that explored the prevention of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). She and her research team developed an intervention approach using videos, training sessions and manuals and tested the effectiveness of these different components on various worker populations. Later research by Dr. Lusk experimented with a computer-based interactive media program designed to increase factory workers’ use of hearing protection at the worksite. Her initial interventions program was distributed by the American Association of Industrial Hygienists. The computer-based program was made available on the NIOSH website and has been used in worksites and referenced by researchers around the world.

 

She also looked at non-auditory effects of noise exposure. Her project was the first to use ambulatory blood pressure monitoring equipment with workers in the factory, demonstrating that as noise levels increased, blood pressure increased as well These findings have implications for all types of noise exposures, work, environmental, and recreational.

 

One of Dr. Lusk’s proudest achievements from her distinguished career is her influence in directing attention to workers’ perceptions and beliefs about use of personal protective equipment. Prior to her program of research, NIOSH had never funded a study examining the factors that influence workers’ behavior. Now both intramural and extramural research focusing on workers’ behavior is funded by NIOSH. “I feel very proud that I’ve influenced activity on the federal level and directed attention to the workers’ behavior, which hadn’t been addressed before,” commented Dr. Lusk. Another source of pride for Dr. Lusk is the people she has worked with. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with wonderful teams of people, students, colleagues, consultants, and mentors, and great support of my career from my family,” she said.

 

Throughout her career, Dr. Lusk has witnessed an important evolution within the field of nursing, one that she would like to see fostered by the next generation of nurses. She recalls giving lectures in undergraduate research courses some 40 years ago about the fact that nursing lacked a research base. “The nursing practice then was based on history, what other people were doing, intuition, etc,” she said. “The change that I’ve seen over my career is the emphasis on research and evidence-based practice. Nurses need to be conducting the research and reporting the evidence.”

 

To those just entering the nursing field, Dr. Lusk would share a piece of advice reflecting this revolution in research that she has observed. “I am such a firm believer in the need for research that I hope that nurses at all levels participate in some way in research,” said Dr. Lusk. “If someone is in clinical practice, the hospital or the health department, there are still opportunities for observing, collecting data, or participating with researchers. I cannot emphasize too much the importance of research to the nursing profession.”

 

The MNRS Lifetime Achievement Award comes in a long line of well-deserved recognition for Dr. Lusk’s contributions to nursing science, including MNRS Distinguished Researcher Award, MNRS Presidential Award, Indiana University School of Nursing Distinguished Alumni Award, American Academy of Nursing Fellow at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the American Association of Occupational Nurses Mary Louise Brown Research Award.