Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of Naltrexone On Alcohol And Nicotine Use In Female P Rats, Usman Z. Hamid, Michael T. Bardo Ph.D.

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Title: Effects of Naltrexone on Alcohol and Nicotine Use in Female P Rats

Author: Usman Z. Hamid, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky

Faculty Mentor: Michael T. Bardo, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky

Alcohol is the most commonly abused substance worldwide. It is often co-abused with nicotine, which increases the difficulty of cessation of both alcohol and nicotine. Despite having similar mechanisms of action, there is no single medication to treat the co-abuse. The objective of the current study is to analyze the effects of the opiate antagonist naltrexone on alcohol consumption and the co-use of alcohol and …

Quality Of Care Strategies And The Subsequent Improvement Of Kangaroo Care Incidence Rates In Premature Infants, Sarah Anderson

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Purpose: The benefits of kangaroo care (KC) has long been studied and proven. Despite the research, incidence rates of KC are low in the neonatal ICU at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital. Some barriers to KC exist in our NICU and this study strives to address them. This study aims to develop and implement strategies to increase utilization of KC from 41% to  75% for eligible infants.

Methods: KC occurrence was monitored in 364 infants with birth weight ≤ 1250 grams. Strategies implemented were education of nurses, improved nurse-to-patient ratio, emphasis of KC in multidisciplinary rounding, improved documentation, …

An Evidenced-Based Protocol For Eliminating Errors Associated With Intravenous Medication Errors, Susie Chaney, Blake Smith, Andrea Howard, Chanel Wilder, Suzi White Msn, Phcns-Bc

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The purpose of our research is to decrease the number of IV medication errors. IV medication errors occur due to the wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong rate, wrong concentration, incorrect aseptic technique, known allergies, omitted medications, wrong time of administration, incorrect labeling, patient identification, and no order for the infusion. Nurses’ perceptions of why medication errors occur included physicians’ medication orders are not clear, the names of many medications are similar, pharmacy did not label the medication correctly, poor communication, lack of staff to patient ratio, fatigue from hard work, nurses' heavy workload, and working night shift. This quality improvement …

Are Dietary Factors And Exercise Levels Related To Fertility Status?, Britt Fugmann, Rachel Tinius

Posters-at-the-Capitol

BACKGROUND: Infertility is a major public health concern as it affects up to 25% of couples in Western Countries. While there is some evidence that diet and exercise may be linked to fertility, there is no official dietary or exercise guidance for couples when trying to conceive. Additional information regarding the relationship between diet, exercise, and fertility is needed to better inform the development of guidelines for couples trying to conceive.

PURPOSE: To examine the relationships between diet, exercise, and fertility among women.

METHODS: Participants were selected from on ongoing pregnancy study (N=33). All participants went on to have healthy …

Development Of A Pd-L1 Pet Imaging Biomarker, Caleb Jack Bridgwater

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Immunotherapy strategies are very promising treatments for cancer patients. Specifically, Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy focusing on the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway shows long-lasting positive results in many cancer patients. Unfortunately, not all the patients can benefit from this highly effective treatment. Hence, there is a great need for predictive biomarkers. Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining has been used as a way of predicting patient response, yet shows many problems. For example, IHC utilizes an invasive biopsy and sample fixing, which creates an incomplete and delayed picture of the patient’s biochemistry and the tumor microenvironment, consequently ignoring metastases.

The purpose of this study is to …

L-Serine Reduces Reactive Oxygen Species Yield In Cisplatin Treated Zebrafish Utricles, Satya A. Moolani, Elvin Irihamye, Jerry D. Monroe, Michael E. Smith

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Cisplatin is a chemotherapy compound effective against a variety of cancers. However, it can act as an ototoxin and cause hearing loss by promoting reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in auditory tissues. The antioxidant amino acid, L-serine has been hypothesized to lower levels of cisplatin-mediated ROS. In this project, we investigated whether L-serine can reduce cisplatin-mediated ROS production in auditory tissue and potentially act as an otoprotectant during cisplatin chemotherapy. We used a zebrafish utricular tissue culture system and fluorescent ROS indicator dye to spectrophotometrically measure if L-serine could decrease reactive oxygen species levels in cisplatin-treated tissues. We found that …

Barriers To Change For Augmentative And Alternative Communication Use, Lauren E. Brown

Scholars Week

Title: BARRIERS TO CHANGE FOR AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION USE

Keywords: speech language pathology, augmentative and alternative communication, counseling, readiness to change, self-efficacy

In recent literature, there has been a marked increase in importance placed upon understanding what factors both positively and negatively impact the progress made by a client and that client’s family in response to speech and language therapy. Today, clinicians prioritize evidence based practice (EBP) when making clinical decisions, focusing on not only clinical expertise and best evidence, but also client and caregiver perspectives, or preferences (ASHA, 2018). In consideration of EBP for augmentative and alternative communication …

Evaluating The Effects Of Handmade Cards On Hospitalized Patients’ Health, Abigail Prins

Scholars Week

Social support has a major influence on the health of patients. However, many hospitalized patients receive little or no visits from friends or family. The absence of social support may have negative effects on patients’ health. The knowledge of health benefits from social support are growing, however, there is little research on interventions offering support. The purpose of this research project is to evaluate the intervention of giving handmade cards to patients in the hospital setting on psychological and physiological health. The design will indicate if gifting handmade cards elicits effects of social support. The investigator used a convenience sample …

Determining The Frequency For Chronic Foley Catheter Cleaning And Changing, Jeral Mack

Scholars Week

The title of this research project is “Determining the Frequency for Chronic Foley Catheter Cleaning and Changing”. The project was conducted by Jeral Mack, a senior Murray State University School of Nursing student. The initial investigation for the topic of this research was to determine defined guidelines for chronic foley cleaning and changing for a hospital-specific policy. In this paper, an analysis of four published research articles was conducted to define the best practice for the prevention of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) as it relates to chronic Foley catheter cleaning and changing in healthcare settings. In nursing, using the …

Nursing Compliance With Vap Bundle, Taylor Meadows

Scholars Week

It has been proposed that by initiating the highest percentages of nursing compliance, overall patient outcomes will improve along with a decrease in the number of ventilator-associated events (VAEs). The aim of the study is to appraise the association between nursing compliance with a ventilator bundle and a successful decline in the number of events of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in the intensive care unit (ICU). The study also provides evidence-based direction on the best nursing practices essential to reducing the rates of VAP. Objectives include expanding the awareness of critical care staff on prevention and compliance and to improve teamwork …

Implementation Of The Banner Mobility Assessment Tool For Bariatric Patients, Nicole Benkert

Scholars Week

Abstract

The prevalence of morbidly obese patient within the United States is on a rapid incline. Evidence correlates an increase in patient falls, comorbidities, and hospital admission among this specific patient group. As a result, there is an increase in workload and injuries to staff as they tend to these patients. Healthcare facilities need to continuously update current patient handling programs and create specific policies for safely handling obese patients. Research suggests that Safe Patient Handling and Mobility Programs, as well as the Banner Mobility Assessment Tool (BMAT), have substantially decreased nurse injuries through a wide range of nursing specialties. …

The Sensory And Textural Evaluation Of A St. Louis Style Butter Cake Made With Greek Yogurt As A Fat Replacer, Caprisse Johnson

Scholars Week

In modern America, many nutrition-related health issues are on the rise, including diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Many nutrition professionals link the rise in these three diseases to the Western Diet, which includes a high fat and sugar content within its foods. Due to the increased consumption of this diet high in sugar and fat, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes rates seem to be rising. However, many people who eat this diet and are at risk for these complications, hesitate to change their diet because they feel that healthier alternatives bland in flavor or have a repugnant taste when compared …

Vte Prevention: A Risk Assessment Tool, Mary Gilkey

Scholars Week

VTEs are a leading cause of hospital deaths and cost healthcare systems billions. A risk assessment tool that correctly identifies at risk patients and provides appropriate prophylactic measures can decrease the rate of hospital acquired VTE.

Nursing Interventions For Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, Sierra Harris

Scholars Week

This project serves to explore evidence for three nursing interventions aimed at neonatal abstinence syndrome including: breastfeeding, kangaroo care, and rooming-in. Many nursing interventions and policies are aimed at treating the symptoms despite limited research supporting their effectiveness. Further investigation into these interventions and policies regarding neonatal abstinence syndrome needs to be addressed in order to improve the quality of care for affected neonates and decrease the stigma surrounding neonatal abstinence syndrome.