Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Nurse Well-Being Among Clinical Nurses In The Inpatient Setting, Annabelle Arnston, Ora Asheton, Malorie Brooks, Julie Van Orne

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Nurse well-being is a critical factor influencing patient safety and the sustainability of the nursing profession. Organizations that foster nurse well-being report improved staff retention, satisfaction, and engagement. Low nurse well-being can lead to burnout, compassion fatigue, job dissatisfaction, and high turnover. A nursing evidence-based practice and research council at a pediatric hospital conducted a concept analysis of nurse well-being, which guided the development of a mixed-methods study protocol to examine and enhance nurse well-being. This study explores the lived experiences of clinical nurses regarding wellness in an inpatient pediatric hospital, with the aim of informing the development of …

Predicting The Unpredictable: Nursing Innovation For Early Identification Of Violence Risk, Heather Lynn Watson, Carol B. Thompson, Jihane Frangieh, Medeleine Whalen

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Workplace violence (WPV), including verbal threats and physical assaults, toward healthcare professionals is an escalating threat to workforce safety, well-being, and retention. Although structured tools exist to assess aggression risk, most have been developed for psychiatric or emergency settings, and evidence supporting their validity or consistent use in general inpatient care remains limited. The Violence Risk Assessment (ViRA) is a proactive, nurse-administered, electronic health record (EHR) embedded tool designed to detect early behavioral and historical precursors of verbal or physical violence.

Purpose: To evaluate the reliability, internal consistency, and predictive validity of the 9-item ViRA across diverse inpatient and …

Innovations In Educational Leadership To Improve Nursing Student Attendance And Engagement, Ritin Santiago Fernandez, Eleni Kata

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Nurse education is adapting to an evolving healthcare landscape marked by technological advances, resource constraints, and shifting patient demographics (1) Absenteeism among nursing students in classroom and clinical settings poses significant challenges to academic performance, clinical competency, and program completion (2,3). Effective leadership and advances in education are essential to identify underlying causes and implement strategies that foster students’ engagement to improve their learning outcomes thus preparing a competent healthcare workforce (4).

Aim: This scoping review aimed to map the literature on absenteeism among undergraduate nursing students, highlighting leadership and advances in education. Objectives included: (a) identifying factors contributing …

Prevalence And Risk Factor Of Chronic Illnesses Among Staff Attending Employee Wellness Clinic, Elham Mansour Alsanea

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Chronic diseases (CDs) such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obesity represent a major public health concern globally and nationally. In Saudi Arabia, one-third of adults are affected, and the economic cost exceeds $24 billion annually. Despite ongoing national efforts, limited evidence exists regarding the prevalence and risk profile of chronic diseases among healthcare workers (HCWs)—a group exposed to unique occupational stressors and lifestyle risks.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of chronic diseases, modifiable risk factors, and preventive screening uptake among HCWs attending the Virtual Employee Wellness Clinic at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre – …

Parent Perspectives On The Potential For And Process Of Infant Organ Donation, Julia St Louis, Amy L. Wright, Sonny Dhanani, Charles Keown-Stoneman, Jennifer Woolfsmith, Danielle Joseph, Kimberley Widger

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Introduction: Despite the potential to shorten waitlists for life-saving transplants, infant organ donation is rare globally (1). Infant donors (less than one year of age) can reduce waitlist mortality for both infants and children who require size-matched organs like hearts and lungs, and adults who can receive kidney transplants from infant donors (2). Infants can donate their organs after death by circulatory criteria (DDCC) (i.e., the heart stops beating)(1) if the death follows the withdrawal of life-sustaining measures (WLSM) (i.e., mechanical ventilation and hemodynamic supports like vasopressors). However, donation rates are very low(2). Providers have reported rarely offering donation due …

Psychometric Evaluation Of The Chinese Version Of The Death Literacy Index Among Nursing Students, Shu-Fen Wu, Li-Er Hung, Hsiu-Chen Liao, Shih-Ting Lo, Chia-Yu Chen

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Death literacy encompasses the knowledge and skills enabling individuals and communities to access, understand, and act on end-of-life care options. For nurses, it influences communication, decision-making, and palliative care quality. However, few studies have examined death literacy among healthcare providers, and no validated Chinese instruments exist for its assessment.

Purpose: To translate the Death Literacy Index (DLI) into Chinese and examine its reliability and validity among nursing students in Taiwan.

Methods: A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted. The DLI underwent translation and back-translation to ensure conceptual and linguistic equivalence, followed by expert review for content validity. Convenience sampling was …

Reliability And Validity Of A Spiritual Health Scale For Older Adults In Long-Term Care Facilities, Kuan-Pei Lee, Ya-Lie Ku

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a Spiritual Health Scale designed for elderly residents in LTC facilities and to establish the reliability and validity of the instrument.

Methods: This study adopted a scale development approach. Based on the Elderly Spiritual Health Scale by Li and Shih (2021), the researchers integrated additional components derived from the conceptual framework to create a revised scale consisting of 16 items distributed across four dimensions—personal, community, environmental, and transcendental—with four items per dimension. A dichotomous scoring system was employed with responses coded as 1 (presence) or 0 (absence) of a spiritual issue scores ranged from …

Sleep And Mood In New Fathers: A Longitudinal Study From Pregnancy To Six Months Postpartum, Hiroko Iwata, Marika Seki, Emi Mori, Kunie Maehara, Kayoko Kimura, Fusae Toyama

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Aims: Parents often experience sleep disturbances during the neonatal period. However, few studies have examined both objective and subjective sleep quality in fathers. The purpose of this study was to characterize men’s sleep quality from pregnancy through 6 months postpartum, and to explore its association with depressive symptoms.

Methods: This prospective observational study was performed in Japan. Men with primiparous partners at greater than 20 weeks gestation were recruited. Sleep was assessed both objectively and subjectively using actigraphy and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, respectively, and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Data were collected at …

Hybrid Podcasts And Shadow Play Model For Teaching Medical Taiwanese: A Mixed-Methods Study, Hsiao-Ying Wu, Yu-Huan Chao

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Background: Effective communication in patients’ native languages is vital for patient-centered care in aging, multilingual societies such as Taiwan. Although Taiwanese (Holo) is widely spoken among older adults, systematic instruction in “Medical Taiwanese”—the clinical application of Holo—remains limited. Most studies emphasize English language learning, leaving a gap in culturally grounded healthcare language education.

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of integrating podcast-based scenario dialogues and shadow play role-plays into nursing courses compared with traditional lectures.

Design: Quasi-experimental pre–post control group design with explanatory qualitative inquiry.

Setting and Participants: Conducted at a university of science and technology in northern Taiwan with 122 …

Personality Traits, Work Values, And Organizational Commitment Predict Retention In Emergency Nursing, Boyu Wang, Bo-Cyuan Wang, Jun-Yu Fan, Li-Chen Chen, Li-Chin Chen, Yi-Ting Wang

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: Retention of skilled emergency nurses has become a growing challenge worldwide. This study examined how personality traits, work values, and organizational commitment relate to the intention to remain in the workplace. The findings aim to help nursing leaders identify practical approaches to improve retention and strengthen organizational culture.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the emergency department of a medical center in northern Taiwan. Data were collected from 120 emergency nurses between December 1 and 31, 2023, using validated Chinese versions of the IPIP-15 Big Five Personality Scale, Work Values Questionnaire, Organizational Commitment Scale, and Intent to …

Early Indicators Of Transition To Severe Dependency In Older Adults With Dementia, Kuei-Min Chen, Szu-Yu Chen

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Purpose: Functional assessment plays a critical role in monitoring dementia progression. However, the early identification of individuals who are at risk of rapidly deteriorating into severe functional dependency remains a significant challenge in dementia care. This study aimed to address this issue by examining the association between cognitive impairment and functional ability among older adults with dementia.

Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional survey design, recruiting 258 older adults from 22 adult daycare centers in southern Taiwan. Data collected included demographic characteristics (age, sex, education, marital status, and cohabitation status), chronic diseases, cognitive impairment, psychiatric and behavioral symptoms, and functional …

Missed Diagnoses Beyond Endemic Borders: How Knowledge And Resource Access Shape Testing For Cutaneous Leishmaniasis And Chagas Disease, Alyssa Agnew, Brandon Lopez, Cherry Mawii, Erin Aslan, Sreshta Sankar, Semené Clement

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) and Chagas Disease (CD) are both tropical vector borne diseases most common in endemic regions. CL is caused by a parasite spread through sandfly bites. CD is caused by the parasite transmitted through the feces of Triatomine bugs. They are not common in non-endemic regions resulting in lack of training and knowledge required to properly diagnose and treat these diseases. This study assesses how clinician knowledge and access to diagnostic tools influence testing practices for CL and CD in non-endemic regions and contribute to diagnostic bias, underrecognition, and delayed diagnosis.

A comprehensive literature review was performed through …

Leveraging High School Students Knowledge Of Obesity Conundrum, Lauren R. Mcconnell, Nalani N. Galindez, Lauren R. Selent

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Adolescent obesity, defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex, affects approximately 21% of US adolescents aged 12 to younger than 18 years. This chronic, progressive disease is associated with significant immediate and long-term health consequences and requires comprehensive, intensive treatment rather than "watchful waiting.Changes in diet, including decreased fast food and soda consumption are necessary to obesity reduction. The purpose of this study is to examine high school students knowledge and attitudes regarding obesity. A quantitative, causal-comparative design was used to identify differences across groups. The independent variable was the grade level of …

Leveraging Compliance With Infection Control Policies Among Healthcare Workers In A Multi-Hospital System, Lauren R. Mcconnell, Ethan C. Anthony, Lauren R. Selent

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Despite the national push, healthcare workers compliance with Standard Precautions (SP) and Transmission-Based Precautions show significant gaps in both understanding and implementation.1 The conundrum of hospital nosocomial infections obfuscates the threat to patient safety.2 The purpose of this study is to examine staff compliance with infection control policies by infection type within a multi-hospital system. A quantitative, causal-comparative design was used to identify differences across groups. The independent variable was the ‘type of isolation’ assigned by the infection control practitioner. The dependent variables were staff adherence to the infection control policies including: 1) Isolation sign on patient’s door ; 2) …

Patient Perspectives On Lung Cancer Screening Uptake: Findings From In-Depth Interviews, Patricia A. Falcon

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and is primarily caused by tobacco use. Lung cancer screening with a Low-Dose Computed Tomography (LDCT) scan is an established method to detect this disease at an early stage and can reduce its death rate by up to 20%. However, the uptake of lung cancer screening across eligible individuals has been low, especially among underserved populations. The goal of this study was to have a better understanding of how to increase lung cancer screening among eligible underserved population. Eligible participants included adults aged 50 to 80 years …

Deutsche Musik: Exploring German Identity Through Music, Selah A. Thompson

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

While Germany is recognized as the fourth-largest music market in the world,music has a complex role within the construction of German national andcultural identity. Tracing musical history back to the 12th century with theMinnesinger, to the great classical composers like Bach and Beethoven andinto the 20th and 21st centuries with German heavy metal groups like theScorpions, Germany's historical roots are heavily intertwined with music.Many historical events in Germany have featured music as a prominentcatalyst, such as the Swing counterculture during the Nazi regime to theresilience of the East German pop scene. This study traces the complex andrich history of music …

German Involvement In The European Space Agency, Amanda M. Chesney, Abbigail Geiger

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

As our technological advancements expand, so does our knowledge of the universe beyond Earth. And as technology becomes increasingly more accessible, more countries are becoming involved in space exploration and research. Germany, in particular, is a global leader in technological innovation and engineering—does this still apply to the field of space in particular? How much of recent innovation in space research has Germany been involved in? To answer this question, this study examined Germany’s contributions to the European Space Agency’s efforts in space research and exploration. Information was sourced from the European Space Agency’s recent projects. The study observed these …

Leveraging The Patient Experience: Satisfaction With Hospital Food Services, Daniel Hansen Harwin, Lauren Rae Selent, Lauren Reilly Mcconnel

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Patients want and expect better health care services than they did in the past. Within hospitals, consumption of proper nutrition is vital. Patients and nutrition share a unique relationship that is essential for health, this connection is complex including important variables such as food quality. This study examined how patients’ satisfaction with food differed by clinical units. Initially, a MANOVA was conducted. For significant findings ANOVA contrasts were conducted on each dependent variable. The independent variables are the individual clinical units to which the patients were admitted. The dependent variables were the patients' responses to survey questions including: 1) There …

Validation Of A Remote Collection Device For Human Milk Composition Analysis, Thi Yen Nhi Nguyen, Ryan Pace

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Human milk (HM) composition demonstrates remarkable variation across stage of lactation, time of day, and environmental exposures such as diet. Most research protocols require in-person collection and immediate freezing to maintain sample integrity, resources often unavailable in remote or low-resource settings. Validated alternative collection and storage protocols are needed. This study evaluated whether HemaSpot HF (HF), a “next-generation” dry blood spot device, is suitable for remote HM collection and protein analysis. HM was applied to HF devices and protein concentrations were measured using bicinchoninic acid assays. We assessed protein concentration stability across storage durations, elution times, and sample volumes. We …

How Do Different Receptor Targets In Glioblastoma Differentially Shape The Tumor Microenvironment And Influence Tumor Progression And Therapeutic Response?, Vedant A. Patel, Rohit V. Borra, Andrew P. Thomas, Emily Berger

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the most aggressive brain tumors, with a median survival of approximately 15 months despite treatment and a recurrence rate near 90%. Therapeutic failure is largely driven by an immunosuppressive and therapy-resistant tumor microenvironment (TME). GBM progression depends on dysregulated receptor-mediated signaling pathways that regulate angiogenesis, immune evasion, stemness, metabolic adaptation, and phenotypic transition. Although targeting individual receptors has been explored, outcomes remain limited. This literature review evaluates how targeting receptor-mediated pathways—including neuromodulatory targets such as mGluR3—affects the TME and therapeutic response. It also compares the effectiveness of single versus multi-receptor targeting strategies. A PubMed search …

The Aging Muscle Phenotype Of C57bl/6j Wild-Type Mice, Gaurav Shingote

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Aging causes a slow and progressive loss of muscle fiber number and size. Sarcopenia is termed as an age-related loss of muscle mass and function. Here, we characterized the aging skeletal muscle phenotype of C57Bl/6J wildtype mice. 30 weeks old (young) and 2 years old (aged) C57Bl/6J wildtype male mice were utilized in this study. The body weight and hind leg muscle weight were recorded during collection. The hind leg muscle Tibialis anterior (TA) was OCT embedded, cut at the mid- belly region, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain as per our previously published protocol. The 20X images …

Evaluation Of Combined Targeted Therapies In High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Using Colony-Forming Assays, Hannah B. Taylor

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer (HGSOC) remains the most lethal gynecologic malignancy. Although most patients achieve complete responses to frontline surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy, approximately 85% recur. These patients are incurable. Targeted therapies are emerging; however, they are often insufficient as monotherapy and may have overlapping toxicities in combination. Our preliminary data identified the combination of simurosertib (CDC7 inhibitor; CDC7i) and lunresertib (PKMYT1 inhibitor; PKMYT1i) as a promising strategy in recurrent HGSOC. Our findings also suggest that sequential administration may be beneficial compared to concomitant therapy. This study aims to evaluate and optimize sequential versus concomitant CDC7i-PKMYT1i treatment using colony-forming assays. …

Efficacy Of Monoclonal Antibody Treatment On Lowering Infectious Disease Burden In U.S. Elderly Patients, Lyndsey M. White, Daniel Johnson, A'Niya Jackson, Laiba Majid

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Older adults in the United States experience a high burden of infectious diseases due to age related immune decline, reduced vaccine responsiveness, and increased comorbidities. Monoclonal antibody therapies are an important strategy for lowering this burden because they provide immediate and highly specific immune protection. This review evaluates the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies in reducing infectious disease severity in elderly populations and examines how neutrophils and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps interact with antibody based treatments. Throughout the review, these therapies have been shown to be successful against multiple infectious diseases, and clinical findings suggest that hospitalized elderly or …

Leveraging Computer Vision-Based Hand Tracking In Smartphone Xr Exposure Scenarios To Enable Controller-Free Interaction, Alex C. Lim, Trang Nguyen

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Extended reality (XR) has emerged as an effective and convenient solution for broadening accessibility to exposure therapy. Smartphone-based XR, though cost-effective, is often constrained by limited interactivity, engendering a passive experience that can compromise the user-immersion and treatment efficacy. To address this limitation, this study presents a novel computer vision–based hand-tracking approach using Google MediaPipe, integrated within a stereoscopic smartphone-based XR system to enable real-time, controller-free interaction in a dog-fetch scenario. Hand landmark coordinates derived from MediaPipe are algorithmically adjusted based on changes in inter-knuckle distances during anterior/posterior movement to approximate depth, at which point interactive spheres are overlayed to …

Accelerating Protein Engineering: Using Computer Modeling To Identify Beneficial Interleukin-23 (Il-23) Mutations, Andrew S. Chadwell

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Interleukin-23 (IL-23) regulates inflammation, yet its overproduction, driven by genetics or overactive immune triggers, can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases like psoriasis. IL-23 consists of two subunits; an exclusive subunit, p19, and a second subunit, p40, that is shared with Interleukin-12. Driving selectivity of p19-p40 interactions promotes a shift in cytokine formation between IL-23 and IL-12. By integrating computational biology, protein engineering, and structural data from the RCSB Protein Data Bank (entry 4RGW), the research addressed structural challenges like unresolved regions in experimental structures and the difficulty of predicting beneficial mutations. Structural modeling using ColabFold, a prediction tool based on …

Impact Of Private Equity Investments Integration On U.S. And European Sports Industries, Evan Alexander

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Private equity investments in the sports industry have become increasingly prominent in both the United States and Europe, although the dynamics, regulations, and strategies differ between the two regions. In this thesis, I discuss the concept of private equity (PE) investments within the sports industry, evaluating it in the context of the United States of America and Europe.

I analyze the overall impact that the integration of private equity investments has had on several sports leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and European Soccer Clubs, among other sports. I …

Evaluating The Impact Of Bitcoin And Ethereum Etfs On Risk Adjusted Returns In Retirement Portfolios, Brannon Nickles

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Cryptocurrency is no longer that of a topic solely for traders and tech enthusiasts, as crypto ETFs have worked their way into mainstream retirement accounts, bringing with them many questions to financial planners. The question this study addresses is whether small Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF allocations actually improve the risk-adjusted performance of a traditional balanced retirement portfolio. To find out, five different portfolio constructions were tested using real ETF return data, with performance measured across Sharpe ratio, Sortino ratio, maximum drawdown, and correlation, all with quarterly rebalancing built in. Every portfolio that included cryptocurrency outperformed the standard baseline on risk-adjusted …

Sustainable City Design And Policy Impacts: Mental, Health, Productivity, And Quality Of Life, Sawyer B. Bowman

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

As corporations grow larger and consolidate more assets, both human and material, the importance of sustainability in workplace efforts has never been greater. Firms have excised impact over their communities and those employed by said firms, making decisions regarding green operations, triple bottom line considerations, and other sustainable business practices highly needed for the continued operation of firms. As these practices are costly both in the monetary and temporal sense of reality, many firms tend to place sustainability lower on the list of importance as compared to concepts such as productivity or profitability. Based on surveys and interviews with firms …

How The Erosion Of The German Drinking Culture Impacts Social Cohesion And The Economic Progression, Tran B. Duong, Monica Hennawy

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

German drinking culture has begun to wane within the past decade. While this may be viewed as a public health success, it has multifaceted impacts. The lifestyle adjustment threatens the third space which has historically fostered social interaction, making their erosion significant not merely economically but also culturally. Substance use also has a multifaceted impact on mental health, whereas in regulation social drinking can promote bonding. This leads to the need for appropriate policy in alcohol consumption which should help the public draw a balance in sustainable drinking practices. Alternatively, Germany’s third places also serve as a significant source of …

Business Incubation And The Role That It Plays In The Future Economic And Financial Success Of Small Island Developing States, Warren Watkins

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face a unique blend of economic vulnerabilities and untapped potential, often stemming from their heavy reliance on tourism and limited diversification. This thesis explores how business incubation can serve as a strategic mechanism for fostering sustainable economic and financial growth within these nations. Through a comparative analysis of established models in countries such as Singapore, Japan, and Chile, alongside emerging initiatives in Caribbean SIDS, this research identifies the pathways through which foreign investment, education, and technology can jointly stimulate entrepreneurial development. Findings indicate that while foreign partnerships remain essential in the early stages of incubation, …