Digital Commons Network^™

From Novice To Target: Reducing New Graduate Nurse Bullying, A Quality Improvement Project, Christina Matousek, D'Ana Brooks, Joy Elwell, Ivy M. Alexander, Tracy Carafeno

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: The bullying of new graduate nurses is often considered a rite of passage in the nursing profession.¹ Bullying within nursing has led to poor professional development, reduced self-confidence, and has the potential to negatively impact patient outcomes; with links to increased medication errors, falls, and hospital costs.^1,9 Within a comprehensive cancer center, high rates of nurse bullying have been reported. Currently, this institution lacks staff education regarding bullying and the negative impacts it poses to staff and patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to reduce the bullying of new graduate registered nurses (RNs), …

Examining Efforts, Rewards, Burnout, And Intention To Leave Among Full-Time Nursing Faculty, Jacqueline Christianson, Kathryn J. Malin, Jessica Leiberg, Lisa Grabert, Jessica Zemlak

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: The nursing faculty shortage is a contributor to the nursing shortage. Intention to leave the full-time faculty role for non-retirement reasons, including poor effort-reward balance or burnout, may be a underacknowledged contributor to the faculty shortage (Leiberg et al., 2025; Malin et al., 2024). The Effort-Reward Imbalance model predicts both burnout and intention to leave as an outcome of poor balance between efforts required by work and rewards obtained through work (Siegrist & Li, 2020). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between efforts, rewards, burnout, and intention to leave among full-time nursing faculty using the …

Embedding Trauma-Informed Care In Nursing Education: Strategies For Healthy Work Environments, Rachel Ann Elliott, Kathryn Pfaff, Edward Cruz, Sherry Morrell, Adrian Guta

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Trauma is ubiquitous within society; it is experienced by people who access healthcare, and their care providers, including nursing students who experience high rates of adverse childhood experiences (Gilroy et al., 2024). Although trauma-informed care (TIC) is an established approach that addresses the widespread health effects of trauma (Wathen et al., 2021), its systematic integration in nursing education curricula is lacking (Pfeiffer & Grabbe, 2022). This leaves new graduate nurses ill-equipped to competently support clients and families who have experienced trauma, compromising a safe culture of care (Ross et al., 2025).

Purpose: To explore individual, relational, structural, and organizational …

Care Among Crisis: Trauma And Building Resiliency With Wildfire Respondents, Zurisadai A. Inzunza, Monika Scherer, Maximus Balliet, Zoe Hollingsworth, Adrienne Martinez-Hollingsworth

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

In January 2025, over 230 employees were rapidly deployed from a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) system to support the medical and social needs of Eaton wildfire evacuees at the Pasadena Convention Center (PCC). Of the thousands of Pasadena and Altadena residents displaced, many of the employees were directly impacted. As environmental disasters are becoming more frequent, organizations can implement measures to reduce the psychological impact by promoting coping strategies to improve mental wellbeing for nursing professionals.^1,2

Research has shown that volunteer responders who are highly motivated report lower levels of burnout.³ There is a gap in research …

Scoping Review On Exploring Nunchi In Healthcare Among Korean American And Immigrant, Hannah J. Kim, Minseung Chu, Changhwan Kim, Helen Haebitna Park-Chong, Rebekah L. Hayes, Eve Melton, Jennie De Gagne

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Nunchi is a unique Korean concept often described as the ability to “read the room” by perceiving and responding to subtle interpersonal cues. It reflects a nuanced form of social attunement that involves sensitivity to context, anticipation of others’ needs, and adaptive behaviors to maintain harmony in relationships. In healthcare and nursing, where effective communication, teamwork, and leadership are essential, nunchi may play a critical role. This review explores how nunchi has been defined, conceptualized, operationalized, and applied in nursing and healthcare literature, and discusses its potential implications in healthcare settings where individuals from diverse backgrounds collaborate.

The review guided …

Trauma-Informed Academic Practice Partnerships To Support Nursing Students’ Transition To Practice, Lori Dawn Mcelroy, Stacy King

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

The transition from nursing student to professional nurse is a vulnerable phase marked by stress, uncertainty, and emotional fatigue. These challenges can lead to burnout and attrition, making healthy work environments essential for fostering resilience and retention. Trauma-Informed Education (TIE) strategies centered on safety, trust, empowerment, and peer support offer a framework to support students and new nurses. When integrated into academic-practice partnerships, TIE strategies enhance clinical learning, promote well-being, and strengthen the workforce.

The project explores how trauma-informed strategies embedded in academic practice partnerships create psychologically safe environments for nursing students transitioning into practice. Goals are to impact transition …

Factors That Empower Nurses To Lead In Support Of Healthy And Sustainable Work Environments, Lori Murray, Deanna Jan Emory, Thomas Kippenbrock

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Effective, empowered nurse leaders are central to the development of a healthy work environment and workforce (Morvati et al., 2024). Student and early career nurse involvement in professional organizations is thought to encourage leadership growth and potential by promoting leadership skills, self-efficacy, networking and providing a sense of belonging to the profession (Beal, 2022). However, there is limited empirical evidence identifying the specific factors that influence a nurse’s decision to pursue or accept leadership positions. Understanding key factors, such as mentorship, professional organization involvement, and organizational support, is essential for addressing leadership gaps within the nursing workforce. This evidence …

Precious: Platinum Palladium Prints., L.J. Rhodes

Research and Creative Works Expo

This body of work by L.J. Rhodes represents a significant shift from direct portraiture to the exploration of human presence through the "traces they leave behind". Driven by a personal sense of urgency following a diagnosis of heart failure, Rhodes uses this project to contemplate mortality and the legacy of objects.

UA LIttle Rock disciplines:photography; art; fine art

Fixitlinfield: Streamlining Campus Maintenance Through Smart Work Order Management, Lucien Ryan Lefebvre, Max Parker Clanton

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

FixItLinfield is a streamlined work order platform designed specifically for campus housing. It allows students to quickly submit maintenance requests while giving facilities teams a centralized, organized system to track, prioritize, and complete jobs efficiently. The goal is simple: faster fixes, better communication, and a smoother living experience for everyone on campus.

Program (Pdf), School Of Allied Health Professions

School of Health Professions Research Day

No abstract provided.

A Low-Noise And High-Gain Integrated Photoplethysmography Sensor For Continuous Vital Signs Monitoring, Neethu Mohan

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Photoplethysmography (PPG) sensing is an important technology used for measuring health parameters like, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation, and blood pressure (BP). The PPG sensing is used for individuals who have to periodically monitor their health due to chronic health conditions. The basic requirements of a wearable PPG sensor include non-invasiveness, prolonged battery life, and being user-friendly. These type of sensors have great demand in the healthcare applications and there is a significant rise in the demand of these sensors. The basic objective of these PPG sensors is to make the continuous vital health monitoring easier without the …

Using Molecular Evolution To Explore Alternative Receptors For Sars-Cov-2, Kayden Harris, Aemelia Price, Ruby Bentz

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

SARS-CoV-2, the virus which caused the Covid-19 pandemic, likely jumped from bats into humans, canonically uses the protein ACE2 to infect cells. Recent studies found 22 possible human alternative receptors. However, it is unknown if these receptors are biologically significant to SARS-CoV-2 in vivo. Selective pressure between viruses and hosts often steer nucleotide changes in proteins, including viral receptors. Virus-driven natural selection is often evident in receptor evolution across related species. A signature of natural selection at virus-bound residues of an alternative receptor may indicate use by a virus. To determine if alternative SARS-CoV-2 receptors underwent natural selection in bats, …

Anchorage And Bond Behavior Of Smoothsurfaced Nitinol-Sma Rebars, Mostafa Basha

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

The anchorage and bond behavior of smooth-surfaced Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) is investigated in this thesis, but specifically, the focus will be on Nitinol (Ni-Ti). Nitinol has distinctive properties, including Superelasticity Effect (SE) and Shape Memory Effects (SME). These properties make Nitinol bars suitable for civil and seismic engineering applications that require resilience and durability. However, Nitinol rebars possess a smooth surface, making it difficult to achieve adequate bonding and anchorage, potentially altering their load-carrying abilities. This inadequate anchorage and bonding restrict their use in the field of structural and seismic engineering. The main aim of this study is to …

Assessing The Robustness Of Combinatorial Multi-Armed Bandit For Geofencing With Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces., Luciano De Souza, André Gomes

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) can influence beam selection in next-generation wireless systems by shaping the channel conditions observed during beam sweeping. Prior work assumes deterministic beam sweeping, enabling Combinatorial Multi-Armed Bandits (CMAB) to learn beam-specific policies for geofencing. In this work, we evaluate the robustness of this approach under randomized beam sweeping, where the mapping between bandits and beam directions is disrupted episode by episode. Under these conditions, the learning algorithm no longer converges to a structured solution, instead behaving closely to a random policy, with higher variability and lower mean reward. These results indicate that the CMAB relies on …

Understanding Why Reddit Users Turn To Ai Chatbots For Mental Health Support: A Qualitative Study, Isabelle Byrd, Lillian Frankel, Luke Gallagher, Tyler Nguyen, Lauren O’Brien, Kayla Williams

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

Background: 

• 60M+ people live with a mental disorder (Mental Health America, 2025)
• 1 in 4 with mental illness report unmet treatment needs (Mental Health America, 2025)
• 13.1% of U.S. youth already use AI for mental health advice (McBain et al., 2025)
• Existing research: quantitative, lacks authentic user voice (Collins et al., 2025; Luo et al., 2025)
• Gap: why do people turn to AI over traditional therapy?

Detection, Mapping, And Spraying Of Carolina Redroots In Cranberry Bogs Using Ai And Autonomous Drones, Duwon Ham, Bishal Neupane, Thien Ba Nguyen, Thanh Nguyen, Hieu D. Nguyen, Thierry Besancon

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

Use artificial intelligent and autonomous drones to automatically detect Carolina Redroots in cranberry bogs, create density maps of the weed, and perform spot spraying.

On The Need For Intelligent Link Management In Wifi 7 Mlo, Logan Lux, André Gomes

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

Wi-Fi 7 EMLSR allows devices to use multiple wireless links to improve throughput and reduce latency, but its real-world performance depends heavily on network conditions. This project investigates the need for intelligent link management in Wi-Fi 7 EMLSR by building a real testbed to measure performance.

Geochemistry And Petrography Of Upper Devonian (Famennian) Paleosols In The Appalachian Basin Of Central Pennsylvania, Usa, Cheyenne Woodward, Tami Emick, Lily Pfeifer, Jeff Trop

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

To test the hypothesis of alpine glaciation in the late Devonian (Famennian) at subtropic latitudes, we present new major element geochemistry and petrographic thin section images from upper Devonian paleosols collected from north-central Pennsylvania (Appalachian Basin).  Paleosols, ancient soils, record climate conditions at the time of formation. Major element geochemistry is used to calculate the intensity of weathering which is used for paleoclimate interpretations, and microfabrics observed in paleosol thin section petrography yield important clues about the soil type and degree of pedogenesis in the system. Twenty-three samples were collected from the Catskill and Lockhaven Formation paleosols for geochemical analysis, …

Expanding The Fossil Record Of Hippopotamodon (Suidae, Artiodactyla) From The Hasnot Area, Siwalik, Pakistan, Muhammad Ilyas, Rana Mehroz Fazal, Sayyed Ghyour Abbas, Misbah Faiz, Kiran Aftab, Abdul Ghaffar, Khizar Samiullah, Luke Holbrook

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

The suid genus Hippopotamodon with its type species H. sivalense, is well known from Upper Miocene deposits in Eurasia. Its taxonomic history has been characterized by considerable instability, including early misassignments to genera such as Sus and Potamochoerus, and subsequent reclassifications involving Propotamochoerus, Dicoryphochoerus, and Microstonyx. This confusion primarily resulted from an overreliance on variable dental and canine morphology. Subsequent systematic revisions attempted to resolve these issues by proposing synonymies among these taxa, although debate has continued regarding the relationship between Hippopotamodon and Microstonyx. Recent work supports the synonymy of these taxa based on shared diagnostic features across Eurasian material. …

Discovery And Characterization Of Three Novel Bacteriophages Infecting Arthrobacter Globiformis: Crescenzo (Ay), Gerri43 (Fr), & Roberts (Fr), Gabrielle Achinko, Maximillan Castro, Evan Chernyenko, Kelley Crescenzo, Natalie Horchuck, Jessica Lee, Mattie Mcmahon, Heidi Meehan, Sandra Orjih, Kanishka Poudel, Kaitlyn Roberts, Alex Bogush, Matthew Farber, Marina Bogush

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and are increasingly important in applications ranging from agriculture and food safety to phage therapy. In this study, we isolated and characterized three novel phages, Gerri43, Crescenzo, and Roberts, from soil samples collected in Greenwich, New Jersey, and from the Rowan University campus in Glassboro, New Jersey, using Arthrobacter globiformis as the host bacterium. Phages were recovered using standard enrichment and purification approaches. After initial isolation, multiple rounds of plaque purification and serial dilution were performed to obtain clonal populations. High-titer lysates were then prepared by flooding webbed plates. Electron microscopy showed that all …

Reproducibility Of Carbon Quantum Dots, Liliana De Salas, Kyah Smalley, Nicholas Whiting

STEM Student Research Symposium Posters

Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are semi-conducting, carbon- based, spherical nano-crystals known for their photo-luminescent properties and biocompatibility, making them intriguing candidates for nano fertilization of crop plants. Green synthesis of CQDs utilizes hydrothermal solvation. Synthesis of CQDs from agricultural wastes is a sustainable, low-cost alternative to other synthesis pathways

Thriving Together: Harmony As A Catalyst For Culture And Care, Sharon M. Weinstein, Marla Vannucci, Katie Boston-Leary, Dina Readinger

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Healthcare organizations are facing mounting pressures, including workforce shortages, increasing patient acuity, and growing operational demands. These pressures have made “work–life balance” an often unattainable goal. This session reframes the conversation, shifting the focus from chasing balance to intentionally creating harmony by design. Drawing on the book Harmony by Design and the principles of Diagnostic Design Thinking, the authors co-created a practical, human-centered leadership approach to strengthen workplace culture. This approach helps leaders diagnose root causes of cultural and operational challenges, co-design meaningful solutions with frontline teams, and align leadership intent with everyday practice.

Rather than relying on top-down strategies, …

Facilitators And Barriers To Engagement In A Virtual Mindfulness Program Among Healthcare Workers, Yu-Ping Chang, Tess Bernardo, Allie Nickel, Linda Steeg

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Purpose: Healthcare professionals experience ongoing stress and burnout from heavy workloads and emotional demands. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has strong evidence for enhancing emotional regulation, resilience, and well-being. Despite its proven benefits, adoption remains limited across individuals and organizations. Identifying key facilitators and barriers is essential for sustainable integration into healthcare practice. This presentation explores healthcare workers’ perceived barriers and facilitators to participating in an eight-week virtual MBSR program.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative study using individual interviews with healthcare workers who completed the virtual MBSR program delivered by certified trainers aimed at improving workplace resilience. Four trained research staff …

Supporting Advanced Practice Providers (Apps) Through Second Victim Experiences (Sves), Al-Zada Aguilar

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background/Significance: SVEs describe the physiological, psychological, and professional impact experienced by providers involved in near misses, adverse events, and unanticipated patient outcomes.^1-3 Studies estimate that more than half of providers have SVEs and their sequelae at least once in their lifetime, further exacerbated by a lack of institutional support, potentially contributing to burnout, compassion fatigue, and attrition.^1-4 Existing literature addresses SVE in physicians and nurses; even so, the literature is sparse when it comes to APPs, providers positioned between nursing and medical models, often navigating clinical spaces without structured support systems.

Purpose: To develop an evidence-supported, system-level framework …

Resilience, Social Support, And Burnout: Building Healthy Work Environments For Emergency Nurses, Timothy R. Burns

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Emergency department (ED) nurses work in high-stakes environments that increase exposure to stress, trauma, and burnout. Identifying protective factors that strengthen well-being is essential to building and sustaining healthy work environments.

Purpose: This study examined how years of experience, social support, and resilience influence burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction among ED nurses across the United States.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. Participants completed a demographic form, the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL), the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and the Lubben Social Network Scale. Data were analyzed using multiple and hierarchical regression to identify predictive relationships …

Bridging The Gap: Empowering First-Generation Nursing Students To Transform Workforce Diversity, Kimberly L. Walsh

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background/Significance: The U.S. nursing workforce remains insufficiently diverse, limiting culturally responsive care for minority and underserved communities. Nursing education is pivotal to diversifying the pipeline. First-generation nursing students (FGNS)—often from underrepresented backgrounds—can help close this gap, yet they face barriers such as financial strain, limited support networks, and unfamiliarity with academic expectations. Evidence is limited regarding which demographic and academic factors most strongly differentiate FGNS success from that of non-first-generation nursing students (NFGNS) in pre-licensure programs.

Purpose: To examine and compare demographic and academic success factors for FGNS and NFGNS in U.S. pre-licensure RN programs to inform targeted retention and …

Improving Undergraduate Nursing Student Self-Care Agency With The Moodfit App, Sarah C. Young, Susan Patton

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

The prevalence of nursing burnout syndrome is estimated to range from 14 to 38% (Ge et al., 2023); North America has the highest rate at 38%. Two systematic reviews and meta-analyses found the global prevalence of burnout syndrome in nursing students ranging from 23 to 35% (Kong et al., 2023, Hernandez-Mariano et al., 2024). Arian and colleagues (2023) found student nurse burnout positively correlates with academic semester. As students progress through each term, burnout risk increases.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2021) includes the demonstration of “…healthy, self-care behaviors that promote wellness and resiliency” (p.53) as an essential …

Exploring The Perspectives Of Nurse Leaders On Motivational Interviewing For Workplace Well-Being, Quinais S. Yu

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Nurse leaders face challenges in supporting staff well-being while managing their own, and effective communication is crucial.

Aim: This study explored nurse leaders' perceptions of factors influencing well-being, challenges they face, the impact of Motivational Interviewing skills, and their training needs in MI.

Methodology: Employing a qualitative, exploratory design, the study gathered insights from nurse leaders in Hong Kong clinical settings through individual semi-structured interviews, analyzed using thematic analysis.

Key Findings: Nurse leaders perceive MI as a valuable tool for effective communication and addressing staff ambivalence towards self-care. They emphasized the need for improved work environments, work-life balance, career …

Factors Influencing Healthy Work Environments For Hospital-Based Nurse Practitioners In The U.S., Hyunmin Yu, Kathryn A. Connell, Sarah Delgado, Heather Brom, J. Margo Brooks Carthon, Amanda Bettencourt, Corinna Sicoutris, Deena Kelly Costa, Vicki Good, Matthew D. Mchugh

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Background: Nurse practitioners (NPs) are a rapidly growing segment of the U.S. healthcare workforce^1,2 and are increasingly integral to patient care in hospital settings.^3,4 Despite their expanding roles,⁵ little is known about the work environment factors that affect their well-being in hospital settings.⁶ This study aims to explore the factors that influence hospital-based NPs’ healthy work environments (HWEs) and identify strategies to enhance their well-being and support retention.

Methods: This qualitative descriptive study used directed content analysis⁷ to examine responses from 493 NPs across 264 hospitals in 10 U.S. states with varying scope-of-practice laws. …

Creating A Safe And Welcoming Environment For New Nurses Through Effective Preceptor Training, Heidi Keeler, Jodie Boswell

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

The purpose of this presentation is to emphasize the critical role of nurse preceptors in supporting new nurses as they transition into clinical practice. It aims to highlight the importance of structured preceptor training to foster a safe, welcoming, and inclusive work environment. This presentation explores the essential role of preceptors in facilitating that transition with the use of the Ulrich Precepting Model. By focusing on the roles of Facilitator, Protector, and Socialization Agent, the presentation seeks to equip preceptors, educators and leadership with the tools and strategies necessary to promote psychological and physical safety, cultural assimilation, and professional growth …