School of nursing news
U-M School of Nursing honors graduate students during inaugural White Coat ceremony
Jan 13, 2020On Friday, Jan. 10, the University of Michigan School of Nursing held its first White Coat Ceremony, honoring graduate students who are making the transition from coursework to advanced practice clinical experiences.
For advanced practice nurses and midwives, receiving a white coat represents a prestigious milestone, honors their essential role in the health care field and marks the transition to becoming primary care providers.
“This is a pivotal moment and an important rite of passage for our graduate students as they take the next step in their education and... Read more
Christopher Friese named associate director for cancer control and population sciences at U-M Rogel Cancer Center
Jan 09, 2020The University of Michigan Rogel Cancer has named two new associate directors.
Bhramar Mukherjee, Ph.D., will be the associate director for quantitative data sciences, and Christopher Friese, Ph.D., R.N., was named associate director for cancer control and population sciences.
Mukherjee, chair and John D. Kalbfleisch Collegiate Professor of Biostatistics at the U-M School of Public Health, previously led cancer control and population sciences at the Rogel Cancer Center. She is stepping down from that position to take over leadership around quantitative data science... Read more
U-M School of Nursing study aims to reduce risk of prescription opioid misuse
Jan 06, 2020Leftover prescription opioids pose risks to kids, yet most parents keep unused painkillers even after they’re no longer medically necessary. A new study led by U-M School of Nursing Associate Professor Terri Voepel-Lewis found that giving parents educational materials on how to properly and conveniently dispose of medications can significantly reduce the risk of children accessing leftover opioids.
Terri Voepel-Lewis and colleagues found that prompt disposal of leftover medications improved if parents received a disposal packet at the time the medications were... Read more
E-cigarette and tobacco use patterns among U.S. adolescents
Dec 19, 2019Last year, 28% of e-cigarette users said they started smoking no later than age 14, compared to about 9% in 2014. A new study led by U-M School of Nursing researchers examined e-cigarette and tobacco use patterns associated with tobacco use disorder and substance use disorder symptoms among adolescents.
While the researchers did not look specifically at what caused the increase, study author Rebecca Evans-Polce, assistant research scientist at the U-M School of Nursing, said the perception that e-cigarettes aren’t as harmful or addictive as smoking cigarettes could be... Read more
U-M School of Nursing researchers find water births to be as safe as land births
Dec 11, 2019A new study found that water births are no more risky than land births, and that women in the water group sustain fewer first and second-degree tears.
University of Michigan researchers analyzed 397 waterbirths and 2025 land births from two midwifery practices. There were no differences in outcomes between waterbirth and land birth for neonatal intensive care admissions, and postpartum hemorrhage rates were similar for both groups.
“The long and short of it is that if you use proper techniques. . . the outcomes are very good,” said Lisa Kane Low, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, FAAN... Read more
U-M School of Nursing study explores innovative ways to increase HIV testing among transgender youth
Dec 03, 2019Transgender individuals are over three times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than cisgender individuals, and rates of other sexually transmitted infections are significantly higher in transgender individuals compared to cisgender individuals.
Despite these statistics, transgender youth have low rates of engagement in HIV prevention, shaped in part by experiences of transphobia and lack of access to culturally competent care. A new study led by U-M School of Nursing Professor Rob Stephenson, MSc, Ph.D., examined whether a unique intervention that provides home-based HIV self-... Read more
Labor of Love - Ruth Zielinski promotes the benefits of midwifery and nursing
Nov 18, 2019“I saw my first baby being born when I was eight, and I knew then that I wanted to be a midwife,” says Ruth Zielinski. “They hired me for 25 cents an hour to wash the babies. I loved it.”
Zielinski’s childhood experience in a mission hospital in the United Arab Emirates (then called the Trucial States), where her father was working as a minister, fueled her early passion for midwifery. She spent a lot of time at the hospital, helping out by putting pills in envelopes and washing babies.
As she tells it, Zielinski’s inchoate dreams of becoming a doctor would have a... Read more
Rollercoaster weight changes can repeat with second pregnancy, especially among normal-weight women
Nov 14, 2019Everyone knows that gaining excess weight during one pregnancy is bad, but clinicians rarely consider weight gains and losses from one pregnancy to the next — especially in normal-weight women.
But researchers from Marquette University and the University of Michigan School of Nursing found that among normal-weight women, fluctuating weight gain and loss in the first pregnancy is often repeated in subsequent pregnancies — and is associated with higher risk of several pregnancy-related complications.
“This study says two things,” said Olga Yakusheva, associate professor at the U-... Read more
Alumni spotlight: Colonel Leana Fox, BSN '79
Nov 11, 2019Growing up in Detroit, Leana Fox remembers her parents saying she would make a great nurse. “I believed them,” she said. “I think they saw the nurturing characteristics in me at a young age, and they had a strong influence in shaping my career.”
At Murray-Wright High School, Fox enrolled in the nursing assistant program and completed clinical rotations at Henry Ford Hospital — an experience that confirmed what her parents had known all along. “I loved it, and I knew I found my passion,” said Fox. “I wanted to help people when they were sick, injured and at their most vulnerable... Read more
Students who serve: Catherine Renner, U.S. Air Force
Nov 07, 2019Growing up, military service was never far from Catherine Renner’s mind. Her grandfathers served in the Air Force and Marine Corps, and her parents always supported military service as a rewarding career path — nearly all of her younger siblings have pursued military careers. But she didn’t seriously consider serving herself until she was awarded an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship at the University of Michigan.
“I decided to give it a try, and within a few months I was hooked,” Renner said. “I loved the patriotism, camaraderie... Read more
