Digital Commons Network^™

Halo: Interprofessional Wellness Program To Promote Healthy Work Environments, Cecilia Vargas, Paul E. Spector, Lakeshia Cousin

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Purpose: The Healthy Actions for Lifelong Outcomes (HALO) program is an interprofessional wellness initiative at a large academic medical center aimed at improving employee health and fostering a culture of wellness. HALO integrates preventive exams, biometric screening, motivational interviewing (MI), and MI-based coaching to support sustainable health behaviors. This evidence-based practice (EBP) project evaluated biometric and wellness outcomes from HALO’s second cohort over 18 months. The program is grounded in MI’s four processes engaging, focusing, evoking, and planning and aligns with the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Healthy Work Environment Standards.

Background: Unhealthy work environments contribute to burnout, turnover, …

Ai Powered Student Support And Development Platform, Wadha Alyammahi

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Over the past few years, academic stress and the issue of mental well-being of students has become a pressing issue in the context of educational settings, influencing academic achievements and the general quality of life to a considerable extent. There is a growing use of digital platforms by students as a source of academic support, but most of the solutions available do not support the emotional state of the users or offer any other personalized and context-sensitive support. To address this difficulty, this paper introduces the design and development of a stress-aware conversational support system of students using advanced natural …

Blinded By Relapse: A Rare Case Of Bilateral Vision Loss From Leukemic Meningeal Infiltration, Aun A. Bangash, Tejaswini Swamy, Chloe C. Harris, Victoria Parada

Research Symposium

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) accounts for 20% of adult leukemias, with outcomes improving through modern systemic and CNS-directed therapies. Leukemic meningeal relapse, defined as infiltration of the meninges and detected by cerebrospinal fluid cytology, is reported in 4–7% of adult ALL patients and remains a devastating complication despite CNS prophylaxis. CNS involvement typically presents with nonspecific symptoms such as headache, nausea, or cranial neuropathies; isolated, abrupt vision loss is rare. With a median survival of less than six months if untreated, timely recognition is critical. We present a case of intracranial hypertension with bilateral vision loss due to leukemic …

Nitrogen Limitation Impacts The Evolution Of Tobramycin Resistance In E.Coli, Anja Hofmeier

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

We are investigating how nutrient-limitation affects the evolution of antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli. We evolved E. coli for 24 days in nitrogen- or carbon-limited environments with and without tobramycin. Many nitrogen-limited strains that evolved with tobramycin did not develop antibiotic resistance and went extinct. Surprisingly, fitness competitions showed that nitrogen-limited populations had an even larger fitness advantage in nitrogen-limited environments with tobramycin than in their evolutionary environments. These populations had a mutation in either gene glnL or glnK. We isolated each mutation in a clone and ran fitness assays to investigate how glnL and glnK mutations affected …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Bilingual Children's Subjective Feelings When Language Brokering, Laritza Leyva, Emely B. Bayas, Jordan S. Perry

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

This study investigates how bilingual child language brokers (CLBs) subjectively feel when language brokering (i.e., translating for family members who are not proficient in a language) and the factors that contribute to their feelings. CLBs (ages 9-12) were interviewed about their brokering experiences, and overall themes were identified using thematic analysis. While the majority of CLBs reported feeling positively when translating, some mentioned feeling “normal,” negative, and/or bewildered. CLBs further explained that their feelings were influenced by their belief that translating is helpful, their vocabulary knowledge, and family values related to language learning and bilingualism, among other reasons.

Sliding A Convex Set Under A Convex Function, Julia Williamson

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

An existing form of approximating a non-differentiable function, f, is to slide a convex set, A, along the graph of f and take the lower boundary to form a differentiable function g. Our work reveals that sliding a convex set, A, under the graph of f gives the same approximation function, g, as sliding the set A-A along f. Additionally, sliding a convex set, A, under f is the same as sliding -A under f, or A-A along f. Due to this, if A is smooth from above or below, the approximation function g is essentially differentiable.

Mistaken Selections: Predicting Eyewitness Identification Tendencies, Olivia Eldred

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Eyewitnesses sometimes mistakenly identify suspects in a police lineup, leading to dire consequences for the suspects. This study aimed to look at individual witness’s likelihood of falsely identifying an innocent suspect. Participants watched a series of 4 crime videos, from which they were later asked to identify the culprits in a lineup. Participants then studied face stimuli and completed a speed-of-learning memory test and a two alternative choice test. Our goal was to use the various face tests to predict responses to the lineups for simulated crimes.

Ai In The Er: Why Emergency Medicine Needs More Than An Algorithm, Aidan Patrick Crawford

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

AI holds the potential to revolutionize emergency medicine; to save lives or cause serious harm if left ungoverned by the right ethical framework. The high-stakes, fast-moving nature of emergency care exposes the limits of rule-based AI ethics more than anywhere else in medicine. Ignatian spirituality offers training and application guidance beyond rule-based ethics.

The Effect Of Temperature On Competitive Interactions Between Two Species Of Invasive Crayfish, Jackson Rohrbaugh

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

The North Shore Channel (NSC) of the Chicago River is home to two invasive species of crayfish, the red swamp crayfish and the rusty crayfish. However, distribution data of these two species show that they do not occupy the same regions of the channel. I investigated whether this difference in distributions resulted from the temperature gradient present in the NSC. Specifically, I tested how competitive interactions between the two species changed in different water temperatures. I did so by placing one crayfish of each species in tanks of varying water temperatures and recording their interactions.

Identifying The Limit Of Detection Of An Environmental Dna Assay Designed For Starry Stonewort Detection, Natalie Arnold

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Environmental DNA (eDNA) assays are increasingly used for early detection of aquatic invasive species, but require balancing detection sensitivity with specificity. This study focuses on optimizing the limit of detection for a newly developed eDNA assay targeting starry stonewort, an invasive macroalga present in Lake Michigan harbors throughout the Chicago area. Assay development required minimizing cross-amplification of closely related species while maintaining sensitivity. DNA from nontarget species and known concentrations of the target fragment were tested across multiple qPCR cycling protocols to assess sensitivity and specificity. Our results contribute to a reliable detection tool for monitoring starry stonewort invasion.

How Individual Differences Affect Children’S Learning From Gesture​, Esha Thakker

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Gestures are hand movements that accompany speech and convey information. Although research shows gestures support learning, not all children benefit equally. This study examines how individual differences, such as prior knowledge, verbal working memory, fluid intelligence, and children’s tendency to view movement as meaningful, influence learning from gesture-based instruction. First-grade students participated in tasks to assess these characteristics and received instruction on linear measurement, a foundational early math skill that challenges many children in the United States. By exploring how cognitive profiles interact with instructional contexts, this research aims to inform more effective teaching strategies.

Towards A Unified Architecture For Jointly Learning Human And Robot Behavior, Nathan A C Hogg

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

General-purpose robotic manipulators will be maximally useful if they can be trained on existing data, such as pre-collected human footage. Recent advances in robot learning typically rely on visuals to mimic the high-fidelity movements of humans. Our goal is to model large datasets of human actions as sequences of goal-seeking behaviors, driving robotic motion by leveraging this understanding of human intent. This presentation will discuss the current state of robotic imitation learning, the advancements we have made over the past three months, and our future goals.

The Noma Model As A Guide To Holistic Healthcare, Elena El Ghossaini

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Juggling personal faith without jeopardizing one’s commitment to science is no easy feat, so this analysis examines real world applications of Gould’s Non-Overlapping Magisteria (NOMA) model, specifically in medicine. By incorporating various voices through a literature review and nursing student interviews, this research considers how NOMA can be used to reconcile a healthcare worker’s spirituality with their scientific obligations. Overall, these findings suggest that one’s spiritual beliefs need not interfere with one’s profession. Instead, the NOMA model can be employed to promote meaningful connections with patients, leading to improved cognizance of spiritual needs and more holistic treatment.

Trees Determined By Their Distance Laplacian Matrix, Devin Doherty, Claire Heitman, Skylar Mcleod, Aidan Crossler, Claire Schindler

Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement

Graphs can be encoded into a matrix according to some rule. The eigenvalues of the matrix are used to understand the structural properties of graphs. If two graphs share a set of eigenvalues, they are called cospectral. A tree is a graph with no cycles, and for most matrix representations, almost all trees have a cospectral mate. The distance Laplacian matrix is found by subtracting the distance matrix from the diagonal transmission matrix. There is an open conjecture that trees, for their distance Laplacian matrices, do not have a cospectral mate and are therefore spectrally determined. We show that a …

Empowering Novice Nurses Through Teamstepps: Cultivating A Culture Of Safety And Communication, Daphne Thomas, Marie M. Prothero, Kambrie Rankin, Amber Lawrence

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Novice nurses are particularly vulnerable to medical errors, often hesitant to speak up for fear of appearing incompetent. Additionally, many healthcare professionals lack the communication skills necessary for promoting patient safety. To address this, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and The Joint Commission advocate for standardized communication tools such as TeamSTEPPS—an evidence-based framework designed to enhance team structure, leadership, situation monitoring, mutual support, and communication.

Recognizing the importance of these competencies, nurse educators in a College of Nursing integrated TeamSTEPPS across their undergraduate curriculum's didactic, clinical, and simulation settings. This initiative aligns with the American Association of …

Advocating For Healthy Work Environments: Addressing Workplace Violence Against Nurses With Research, Kendrea Lea Todt, Kathleen Kinser, Hannah Grace Shipp, Florence Weierbach, Kimberly Ferguson, Teresa Carnevale

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Introduction: Nurses globally experience workplace violence (WPV) daily (Kafle, 2022), significantly increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic (National Nurses United, 2024). Nursing is the most trusted profession in the United States of America (USA) (American Nurses Association, 2025) and yet nurses are five times more likely to be assaulted at work than other occupations (Occupational Safety Health Administration, n.d.). WPV creates an unpleasant environment that negatively impacts nurses’ well-being (Kolutek et al., 2024) and perceptions of patient care quality (Shafan Tivka et al., 2024). This highlights the importance of addressing WPV as a workforce and patient care issue.

Background: In Tennessee, …

Money And Power: How Big Money Shapes Democracy In The United States, Paige Long

Thinking Matters Symposium

This project explores the question: what could and should be done to strengthen democracy in the United States? More specifically, it examines the role that large amounts of money in politics play in shaping political power and representation. The central argument of this project is that reducing the influence of big money in political campaigns and policymaking is necessary for creating a more fair and representative democratic system. When wealthy donors, corporations, and special interest groups are able to spend large amounts of money to influence elections and policy decisions, it can limit the political voice of ordinary citizens.

This …

The Healing Huddle: Preventing Nurse Second Victimization Through Post-Event Debriefing, Sidia Scott

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Nurses regularly encounter traumatic situations that can leave enduring scars, and without a formalized opportunity to reflect on these experiences, the repercussions can be severe, affecting personal health, team unity, and the standard of patient care. Healthcare workers who suffer from traumatic events are dubbed “second victims”. The patients and their families are the first casualties. Nurse leaders may lack insight into how debriefing impacts their teams’ quality of life at work and would benefit from additional clarity of how to incorporate consistent debriefing into their culture and workflows.

Purpose: This integrative review aims to explore the evidence regarding …

Interventions Targeting Nurse Burnout: A Review Of Current Strategies With Future Recommendations, Hannah Grace Shipp, Katherine Christine Hall

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Intro: Patient care delivery is at risk when nurses experience unmanaged burnout (World Health Organization, 2019). Burnout affects approximately 30% of nurses worldwide (Ge et al., 2023) and 65% in the United States (Cross Country Healthcare, 2025). Researchers posit that burnout is primarily driven by systemic issues rather than individual deficiencies (Cao et al., 2025; O’Hara et al., 2024). Research on interventions to treat nurse burnout is abundant yet there is a gap regarding the translation of current evidence to practical recommendations.

Purpose: To (1) summarize existing systematic reviews on interventions addressing nurse burnout, and (2) translate this evidence into …

Boosting Nursing Engagement At An Fqhc Through Extended Onboarding And Standardized Preceptorship, Vivian Thuy Vi Min Nguyen, David Tilford, Laura Shouse, Harold Giron, Marvin Alexis Ayala, Olive Mae Zacarias, Lorraine Flores

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

AltaMed is one of the largest Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) serving Los Angeles and Orange County areas with over half a million patients primarily from underserved and minoritized communities. AltaMed's mission is to eliminate disparities in health care access by providing quality health and human services through an integrated delivery system for communities in Southern California. The organization has identified concerns related to readiness, confidence, and retention among newly hired nursing staff.

New hires reported that the onboarding process did not adequately prepare them for clinical practice, resulting in low confidence and increased turnover. Many shared that they needed …

Self-Guided Stress Reduction Program Among New Graduate Nurse Residents, Allison A. Norful, Yilei Yang, Simon Paul P. Navarro, Marin Skariah

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Evidence suggests that younger, less experienced nurses have higher burnout risk, thus yielding higher turnover rates, poorer psychological health, and decreased resilience or job satisfaction. To address this, it is critical to support new nurses by providing training aimed at building resilience and stress management. However, formal curricula designed to help nurses adapt to high-stress environments and unexpected changes are limited. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of an online self-guided resiliency training curriculum.

Methods: Using a pragmatic trial design, we recruited a pilot sample of 26 nurse residents (with …

Burnout & Moral Injury Metrics Inform Evidence-Based Nursing Workplace Solutions, Sarrah Spohnholtz, Brian Douthit, Carolyn Audit

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Purpose: To implement real time burnout data that enables nurse leaders to identify and respond based on environmental risk factors.

Background: Burnout and moral injury among nurses are driven by increased demands and emotional toll of care delivery. These conditions compromise nurse well-being and affect patient outcomes and safety.⁴ Many contributing factors stem from under-resourced environments where nurses cannot provide the care they believe patients need. Resilience training can help mitigate stress, but systemic reform is needed to prevent burnout and moral injury before they occur.²

Methods: In September 2025, the WellNurse Program implemented environmental risk metrics into …

From Achievement To Adaptation: Women’S Career Narratives Across The Midlife Transition, Michelle M. Ness

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Midlife represents a significant transition for women characterized by the onset of menopause, shifting family dynamics, and evolving professional roles that affect physical and emotional well-being, relationships, and overall quality of life (QoL). This study examines how women in midlife navigate career considerations and future aspirations, emphasizing the interplay of achievement, transition, and reorientation. Drawing on qualitative interviews with cisgender women aged 39–57, the analysis identified four central themes: (1) established success and aspirations for growth, (2) redirection and pursuit of new opportunities, (3) reevaluation of work and identity, and (4) future planning and sustainability. For some, midlife represented the …

A New Day: How The 2026 Joint Commission Performance Indicators Elevate Hospital Staffing Systems, Brittany Nettles, Julie Baker-Townsend, Amy Howell

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

As nurses face mounting pressures in clinical environments, challenges such as insufficient staffing ratios, excessive workloads, and limited organizational support contribute to declining employee well-being, increased stress levels, and burnout. These factors not only impact the mental health of nursing professionals but also have significant implications for patient safety, care delivery, and staff retention (Aiken, 2025). Internationally, the burden of excessive workloads negatively impacts patient safety, as each patient added to a nurse's assignment is associated with a 7% increased risk of hospital mortality (Aiken, 2014). A survey conducted by the American Nurses Foundation (2022) found that nine out of …

The Effect Of Organizational Justice On Work Engagement And Burnout Among Hospital Nurses In Japan, Nicholas M. Raposo, Johan Vamstad, Dabin Hwang, Yayoi Saito, Anna Klarare

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Purpose: To examine the effects of organizational justice (OJ) on work engagement (WE) and burnout (BO) among hospital nurses in Japan, and to test whether job satisfaction (JS) moderates these relationships.

Background: Nurse WE and BO affect individual wellbeing, workforce resilience, and healthcare quality and safety.^1,2 OJ, representing workplace fairness and equality, is a key job resource that impacts employee performance and wellbeing.^3,4 In Japan, where WE is relatively low,⁵ the effects of OJ on nurse WE and BO – and how OJ interacts with JS, a salient correlate of WE and BO –^4,6 remain unexplored. …

Advancing Practice-Ready Nursing Education: Strategic Planning That Builds Tomorrow Together, Larry Z. Slater, Kristie Cloud, Taylor Cooper

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

In the face of accelerating change across healthcare and higher education, preparing students for practice-ready success requires more than a strategic plan, it demands a cultural shift grounded in leadership alignment and inclusive engagement (Weston, 2022). One school of nursing (SON) launched a 10-month strategy and leadership alignment initiative aimed at building a high-functioning leadership team, clarifying foundational identity, meaningfully engaging stakeholders, and co-creating a bold yet practical strategic plan ready for implementation.

The initiative unfolded through a series of interconnected efforts. Leadership development sessions built a shared sense of purpose among SON leaders. A survey paired with a full-day …

Aacn Hwe Standards: Bridging Clinical Excellence And Academic Resilience, Michelle Kidd

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

For over 20 years, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has championed Healthy Work Environment (HWE) standards as essential for nursing excellence. While HWEs improve patient and staff outcomes, they may be underutilized in academia. As faculty and clinical staff face record burnout and turnover, the nursing pipeline's survival depends on a unified HWE approach that bridges clinical practice and academia through intentional collaboration.

Self-Care, Resilience, And Mindfulness In Nursing: A Qualitative Meta-Analysis, Meredith Joyner

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Nurses across all practice settings face persistent stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout, which compromise personal well-being and patient outcomes. Evidence increasingly supports mindfulness and self-care as essential strategies for sustaining resilience and professional effectiveness.

Purpose: This presentation synthesizes current evidence on self-care, resilience, and mindfulness among nurses and nursing faculty to identify effective approaches that enhance well-being and professional performance.

Methods: A qualitative meta-analysis of twelve peer-reviewed studies indexed in CINAHL (2013–2024) was conducted. The studies, representing cross-sectional, mixed-methods, and qualitative designs, were analyzed thematically to identify shared concepts, interventions, and outcomes related to nurse self-care and resilience.

Results: …

Creating A Shared Culture Of Well-Being In The Academic Setting, Jennifer Ahlquist, Andrea Kwasky

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

This presentation outlines scalable strategies for promoting a healthy workplace in academic settings and beyond. Drawing on the WHO's Healthy Workplace Framework, the founder and chair of the University of Detroit Mercy College of Health Professions Wellness Committee describes the committee’s evolution from a suicide-prevention focus to a comprehensive culture of well-being that supports personal resilience, professional excellence, and compassionate preparation of future health professionals.

How Do Anthropogenic Disturbance, Insect Diversity And Bird Diversity Intersect? A Study Based On Three Sites In Northern Ohio, Ella Kavanaugh, Micaela A. Tahta Dadourian, Isla Mccullough, Jason Gleditsch

Research Symposium

Human land use can influence bird and arthropod diversity as they change food availability, create edge effects between forest patches and developed land, and impact habitat composition. Many studies have been done to understand the impact of anthropogenic disturbance on bird and arthropod diversity showing forest-dependent species decreasing and generalist species increasing as forest composition changes. Our research aims to expand upon the factors that affect bird and arthropod diversity in three sites that vary in land use and human disruption. To determine the influence of anthropogenic activity, we focused on the variation of bird diversity across our sites related …