September Highlights

-- University of Michigan School of Nursing (UMSN) Associate Professor Patricia Abbott, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, has been elected to the Open Source Electronic Health Record Alliance (OSEHRA) Board of Directors. It is the first time a woman and a nurse has been elected to this board. “Dr. Abbott brings a rare combination of academic and clinical experience to our board” said Dr. Sung K. Mun, OSEHRA President and CEO. “Her leadership and expertise in health informatics in the academic community is unparalleled." Dr. Abbott will join the five-member board on October 1.

 

-- UMSN Dean Kathleen Potempa, PhD, RN, FAAN, testified before the Michigan Senate House Health Policy Committee in support of Senate Bill 2. The legislation would define the scope of practice for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) and allow them to practice to the full extent of their education and certification assessing patients, ordering laboratory tests, and prescribing medication.  “The passage of SB2 would put Michigan into a growing and longstanding group of states that recognize the important work of APRNs,” Dean Potempa told the committee. “APRNs can and should contribute as full-fledged providers able to participate with transparency and accountability for the care that they provide, not be hidden from the public behind a delegating physician who likely has no or little knowledge of the patients to whom the APRN provides care. This concept of team can only be realized when every provider is working to their full, visible, transparent, and accountable capacity without bureaucratic constriction.”

 

-- Helping people with diabetes and their caretakers better manage the disease and understand their plan of care is the focus of “Diabetes Self-Care Assessment,” written by Clinical Assistant Professor Barbara Freeland, DNP, RN, ACNS-BC, CDE, and published in the journal Home Healthcare Nurse. Fear, time commitments, lack of support and/or knowledge, and depression are a few of the reasons patients say they do not follow their prescribed self-care regiment. Dr. Freeland makes recommendations for home care nursing professionals to utilize when performing an assessment with the goal of helping the patient understand the reason behind the treatment and how to develop an individual plan to carry it out. Dr. Freeland explains how these professionals have the opportunity to engage in realistic goal setting after a thoughtful assessment.

 

-- A new study by UMSN Associate Professor Olga Yakusheva, PhD,  shows increasing support for higher numbers of baccalaureate-prepared nurses. The findings of Dr. Yakusheva and her colleagues show that growth in the proportion of BSN nurses on hospital units was associated with better patient outcomes including lower percentages of death, and the findings show cost savings through lower admission rates and shorter lengths of stays. The results of the study are highlighted in the September American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Newsletter.

 

-- A study from one of UMSN’s newest faculty members has found a previously unrecognized link between rice consumption and mercury exposure. “In addition to finding that rice may contain mercury, the technique used in the study to take a comprehensive look across foods has implications for future research about dietary sources of exposure to environmental toxicants” says Assistant Professor Matthew Davis, MPH, PhD, who worked previously with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. “A Dietary-Wide Association Study (DWAS) of Environmental Metal Exposure in US Children and Adults” is published in the September issue of PLoS ONE.

 

-- The scholarly work of a DNP student has been published in the Online Journal of Nursing Informatics: Volume 18, Number 2. Now an alumna, Patricia West, MS, RN, wrote “Alarm Fatigue: A Concept Analysis,” with Dr. Patricia Abbott and another alumna Piper Probst, MSN, RN-BC. “One of our goals in the UMSN is to engage students in producing knowledge that is actionable or 'has legs'" says Dr. Abbott. "We strongly encourage our students to share their knowledge with the world – and one of the ways to accomplish this is via publications and speaking engagements.  We all grow when this happens.  I learn from my students every day, they learn from me and their fellow students, then they share their knowledge with others using media.  This is one way that our students 'give back' to the community.  It is a lot of work to get published – but what a great example Patty West has set!” The article addresses the growing concern for patient safety as clinicians become desensitized to alarms from medical devices. The authors express hope that a better understanding of alarm fatigue “can contribute to future collaborative multidisciplinary research efforts and continued policy progression to create positive and safe patient care outcomes with clinical alarm systems.”

 

-- “It is… essential that we begin to focus on the experiences, needs and desires of survivors,” says U-M student Alexandra Dulin in a Michigan Daily editorial, “What’s a Survivor to do? Options for Post-Assault Care. ” Through U-M’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), Dulin began working with UMSN Research Fellow Michelle Munro because of her interest in helping sexual assault survivors. “Alexandra realized that she wanted to find a way to help her peers be aware of all of their options for post-assault care so they had the knowledge to make decisions about what route was best for them,” says Munro. “After completing a literature review on post-assault care options, Alexandra decided to reach her peers through the Michigan Daily. Her article provides students with data on sexual assault as well as explanations and resources about their options for post-assault care.”

 

-- “Clinical trials are a good thing to participate in if you qualify,” says Daniel J. Clauw, MD, a professor of medicine in U-M’s Division of Rheumatology and director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center. He recently participated in an interview with mCancerPartner to discuss new research findings about chronic breast cancer pain. Dr. Clauw cites the work of UMSN Assistant Professor Ellen Lavoie Smith, PhD, APN-BC, AOCN®, and her research with non-opioids to treat chemotherapy-induced neuropathy. Her research was the first clinical trial to find an effective treatment for this pain.

 

Clinical Assistant Professor Donna J. Marvicsin, PhD, PNP-BC, CDE, was selected as one of the “25 Top Pediatric Nursing Professors” by NursePractitionerSchools.com. “Every professor on this list is a committed mentor and educator, offering something truly special to every student they touch,” says website editor Barry Franklin. Selection for inclusion included peer recognition, continued practice and teaching of advanced level courses. Clinical Assistant Professor Michelle Pardee, DNP, FNP-BC, and Professor Emerita Joanne M. Pohl, PhD, ANP-BC, FAAN, FAANP, were selected as “25 Top Nurse Practitioner Program Professors.” Criteria included excellence in national publications, professor level and their role as professors in a top-rated nurse practitioner program.