Digital Commons Network^™

Empowering Nurses As Change Agents For Climate Action: A Global Advocacy Action Plan, Ongelique Conflenti

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Background: The World Health Organization has identified climate change as the single biggest threat to human health¹. Healthcare systems will inevitably struggle to meet the increasing demand of a sicker population as climate hazards increase in frequency and intensity (e.g. extreme heat, air pollution, extreme weather events)². The healthcare sector itself, however, is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating the burden of disease on the patients and communities it serves³. Radical transformation of the healthcare sector and its workforce is urgently needed to create climate-resilient health systems that align with the …

Perceived Long-Term Benefits Of An Intervention To Improve Health Equity Of Minority Grandparents, Patricia R. Lawrence, Jessica Marcus, Tonya Stoudmire, Regena Spratling

Biennial Convention (CONV)

In the United States, grandparents raise 2.6 million children in parent-absent homes (Generations United, 2022). Grandparents serving as surrogate parents for their grandchildren can take a toll on grandparents’ lives, physically and emotionally (Whitley & Fuller-Thompson, 2017). These research findings have underscored the need for effective interventions to enhance the health of custodial grandparents. One particular intervention program was designed to improve the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of minority grandparents raising their grandchildren, and subsequent studies demonstrated this program’s effectiveness in improving grandparent health. However, what is not known are the effects over time of this intervention on the …

Elephant In The Classroom: How Ethical Ai Can Improve Student Success, Ibrahim Kocaman, Daniel A. Cutrer

Publications

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into teaching and learning in higher education without compromising academic integrity is a pressing issue. To make the benefits of generative AI (GenAI) available to students while upholding principles of ethics and academic honesty, the authors implemented an ethical use of AI policy in their Introduction to Research Methods at Embry-Riddle University. The authors hypothesized and found that allowing ethical utilization of AI would lead to higher student engagement and academic success. These findings offer valuable insights for higher education programs and educators, particularly in security studies.

Standardizing Sepsis Care Across A Lifespan: A Multidisciplinary Approach To Reduce Variation, Vijayakrishnan Poondi Srinivasan, Jillian Gregory, Sarah Chang

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition affecting patients of all ages and remains a leading cause of mortality, hospitalizations, and healthcare costs worldwide. In pediatrics, severe sepsis accounts for millions of deaths annually, with approximately 176,000 hospitalizations and an 8% mortality rate each year in the U.S. In adults, it contributes to 35% of in-hospital deaths and is the leading cause of readmissions. These data underscore the urgent need for timely recognition, standardized interventions, and consistent, evidence-based care across populations.

Mitochondrial Insoluble Aggregates In Aging And Alzheimer’S Disease Models: Cross-Species Proteomic Integration, Identification Of Conserved Candidates, And Pharmacological Disruption Of Eef-2 Interactions, Sonu Pahal

Theses and Dissertations

Protein aggregation within mitochondria emerges early in both aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and contributes to progressive loss of proteostasis. Insoluble mitochondrial aggregate fractions from Caenorhabditis elegans revealed extensive enrichment of metabolic and translational proteins that also appear in human Alzheimer hippocampal aggregates. Comparative analysis across age and genotype identified a conserved subset of aggregation-prone proteins, several of which cluster around elongation factor 2 (eEF-2), a regulator of ribosomal translocation and energy coupling. Cross-species integration defined a network in which eEF-2 links chaperones, metabolic enzymes, and RNA-binding proteins that co-aggregate in both human Alzheimer material and nematode models. Functional tests …

Reflecting On Tobacco And Alcohol Use Impact On Mental Health In Lung Cancer Patient-Caregiver Dyads, Bassema Abufarsakh, Chizimuzo T. C. Okoli

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Lung cancer (LC), a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, imposes significant burdens not only on patients but also on their caregivers,^1,2,3,4 creating a unique dynamic within patient-caregiver (LC-PG) dyads. Tobacco and alcohol use, which are associated with both the development and exacerbation of anxiety and depressive symptoms, present critical individual-level factors that require further investigation, particularly given the potential for reverse causality.^5,6,7

The purpose of this study was to determine the concordance and predictive association between alcohol and tobacco use and anxiety and depressive symptoms among LC-SC dyads using the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM).

Method: LC …

Indigenization In Nursing Education Programs In Saskatchewan: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Delasi Essien

Biennial Convention (CONV)

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC), established in 2008, released its final report containing 94 Calls to Action to redress the historical legacy of cultural assimilation against Indigenous peoples (TRC, 2015). Since the release of the TRC’s Calls to Action there has been a push within the nursing academy to Indigenize nursing education (Essien, 2022). Situated within the context of the colonialism and Whiteness, the goals of this study were to deconstruct and analyze the discourse of Indigenization in the undergraduate nursing education programs in Saskatchewan and examine the discursive practices that sustain, reproduce, and/or transform structures of …

Improving Skin Cancer Knowledge And Screening Among Older Chinese Americans Males, Yan Wang, Anne Derouin, Barbara Turner, Hanzhang Xu

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. with more than 5 million cases diagnosed annually. It is estimated that about 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70, a prevalence that has been increasing annually (Adams et al., 2021; Aggarwal et al., 2021; Dildar et al., 2021; Trager et al., 2022). As reported by the ACS, men are more likely to develop melanoma compared to women. At the age of 80, men are three times more likely to develop melanoma than women, nearly double the number of male deaths due to the …

A Mobile Medical Unit Program To Improve Access To Care For Veterans Experiencing Homelessness, Jillian Weber, Rebecca Kinney

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Background: Veterans experiencing homelessness often have unmet medical needs and experience barriers to accessing and/or engaging in traditional clinic-based care.^1,2 The Veterans Affairs (VA) Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team (HPACT) model provides primary care, mental health, housing services, case management, and key wrap-around services in a multi-disciplinary, population-tailored approach that is designed to address these unique needs and distinct challenges homeless veterans face. Combing these elements with a mobile medical unit (MMU) provides the HPACT team with the necessary infrastructure to provide care in community-based settings in a safe and confidential space with medical supplies and equipment readily available. …

Bridging The Gap: A Scoping Review Of Simulation Use In Np Programs With Inacsl Standards And Cbe, Alanna Elizabeth Kavanaugh, Stephanie Bork, Carla Nye

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Simulation-based education (SBE) has become an integral component of nursing education, particularly in Nurse Practitioner (NP) programs, where it is increasingly used to bridge the gap between classroom learning and clinical practice. This scoping review examines the implementation of simulation in NP programs, with a focus on its alignment with International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) standards and the principles of competency-based education (CBE). The review aims to explore the current evidence, identify best practices, and highlight gaps in research regarding the integration of simulation to enhance NP competencies.

A systematic search was conducted across multiple databases, …

The Impact Of Teamstepps Debriefing On Teamwork Perceptions: Reflections From A Family Birth Center, Jamie M. Emery

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Purpose: This quality improvement (QI) project assessed baseline teamwork perceptions among labor and delivery nurses, implemented a unit-specific debriefing tool to guide nurse-led debriefing sessions after every birth, and re-evaluated teamwork perceptions following the intervention.

Background/Problem: Patient harm events are a persistent global healthcare issue with significant implications for patients, families, and healthcare providers. These events often stem from preventable factors, including communication breakdowns, leadership issues, and inadequate situation monitoring within healthcare teams. To address this, a team implemented a QI project at a Pacific Northwest community hospital's family birth center with nurse-led debriefing sessions after every birth. Debriefing, a …

Health Management Self-Efficacy, Stephanie Yvette Store

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Minority populations, such as Black adults of non-Latinx descent, are more likely to develop chronic diseases and complications related to disease severity when compared to non-Latinx Whites (NLW). Furthermore, Black adults of non-Latinx descent people are less likely to engage in and maintain health-promoting behaviors (HPB) to prevent disease development. HPB are effective in preventing or delaying chronic disease. This research explores the relative impact of aspects of health, built environment, and key demographic domains on the health management self-efficacy (HMSE) of a national sample of Black adults.

Methods: Hierarchical regression modeling was performed utilizing data from the 2018 National …

Developing Nurse Scholars: An Innovative Strategy To Introduce Ebp Competencies In A Dnp Program, Karen J. Whitt, Karen Kesten

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Background: Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) nurse scholars represent professionals prepared with evidence-based practice (EBP) competencies that are essential to respond to challenges and address opportunities to transform healthcare. However, evidence suggests there is a need to improve EBP skills among practicing nurses (Melnyk, et al., 2021). Innovative ways are needed to integrate EBP content in curriculum to optimize DNP students’ attainment of these competencies.

Purpose: This longitudinal study evaluates how implementing an innovative competency-based education (CBE) approach to incrementally introduce learning opportunities in courses offered throughout a DNP program demonstrates students’ progress towards achieving EBP competencies.

Methods: Four courses …

Improving Confidence In Newly Hired Medicine Icu Registered Nurses, Bryan A. Klein, Laken Keathley, Sandra Rogers

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Intensive care topics were taught by clinical nurse experts in structured lectures covering several critical care topics including pulmonary catheters, external pacing, massive transfusion, prone therapy, cardiopulmonary arrest, Minnesota/Blakemore tubes, continuous renal replacement therapy and rapid sequence intubation at a large academic university medical center in the southeastern United States.

Among a small sample of newly hired intensive care nurses (P) who attended ICU lectures (I) how much did they improve (C) their scores for confidence in caring for patients with specific conditions (O)?

Through the analysis of the empirical data collected in a simple matched-response pretest and posttest survey …

Side Effects Of Antipsychotics Impacting The Revolving Door Of Admissions At The Bellevue Hospital, Sandra Lorraine Chisholm-Ford

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Background: Antipsychotic medications are very effective in mitigating the symptoms associated with schizophrenia. However, patients receiving these medications often develop side effects with therapy. Side effects to antipsychotic medications is a global problem resulting in non-compliance, relapse, and re-hospitalizations.

Objectives: The study aimed to identify the prevalence of adverse reactions and side effects experienced by patients with schizophrenia taking antipsychotic medication, as well as the prevalence of readmissions to the Bellevue Hospital due to medication noncompliance.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was done among forty-four patients diagnosed with schizophrenia admitted to acute and sub-acute care wards at the Bellevue Hospital. …

Turning Setbacks Into Strength: Developing The Emerging Concept Of Reclaiming Power, Nadine Cesaire

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Reclaiming power represents a transformative journey where individuals restore autonomy, resilience, and intentional participation in life. This concept emphasizes a shift from disconnection and diminished engagement to active involvement in personal growth and change. It redefines setbacks as opportunities for self-discovery, fostering openness to life’s unpredictability and challenges.

Substance Use Disorder (SUD) affects 14.5% of individuals aged 12 and older in the United States, equating to 48.7 million people (SAMHSA, 2023). This chronic condition, characterized by compulsive substance use, often leads to cycles of recovery and relapse. Overdose deaths rose by 50.9% between 2019 and 2022 (CDC, 2023), with relapse …

Innovative Teaching Strategies To Engage Students In Health Promotion Teaching And Research, Zepure Samawi, Mary Murphy-Smith

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Purpose: To present an exemplar of a teaching project for promoting population health through student teaching and applying the research process. Faculty will disseminate the teaching and learning strategies outcomes from the faculty and student perspectives.

Participants: 34 undergraduate pre-licensure nursing students enrolled into the health promotion practicum across the life span course completed this innovative population based clinical teaching practicum and scholarship innovation.

Methods:
The teaching projects process and implementation were to:
1. Collaborate and engage with community clinical partners to identify health promotion needs for a target population
2. Formulate learning outcomes for the health promotion teaching …

A Global Interprofessional Approach To Nursing Education, Andrea Grace Renwanz Boyle, Olivia Catolico

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Education for tomorrow’s nurses requires approaches that are forward- thinking, innovative, culturally relevant, and designed to address current and future health issues and challenges. Nursing education also must focus on global interprofessional collaboration between educators, students, and clinicians. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the development of a global undergraduate nursing course for implementation with student groups from both USA and rural Uganda nursing programs.

The proposed course builds on existing relationships between nursing faculty working in a small US university and faculty working in a small nursing program in rural Uganda. The course is designed to address …

The Nurse Practitioner’S Role In Managing Care Of Clients With Sepsis/Septic Shock, Nakiesha L. Shepherd

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Sepsis is a secondary infection that causes a dysregulated physiological systemic response, which may lead to shock with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Approximately 350,000 adults who develop sepsis die during their hospitalization or after discharge. Most adult clients who develop septic shock have complex comorbidities that complicate the management of care which impairs quality of life after treatment; and increases mortality. The burden of care falls on the client as well as their family. Not only do nurse practitioners (NPs) serve a significant role in managing care for clients; they educate the community on sepsis awareness and primary prevention. …

Space Agriculture: A Comprehensive Systems-Level Review Of Challenges And Opportunities, Hassan Fazayeli, Aaron Lee M. Daigh, Cassandra Palmer, Santosh Pitla, David Jones, Yufeng Ge

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

As humanity prepares for prolonged space missions and future extraterrestrial settlements, developing reliable and resilient food-production systems is becoming a critical priority. Space agriculture, the cultivation of plants beyond Earth (particularly on the Moon and Mars), faces a constellation of interdependent environmental, biological, and engineering challenges. These include limited solar radiation, elevated ionizing radiation, large thermal variability, non-Earth atmospheric pressures, reduced gravity, regolith substrates with low nutrient-holding capacity, high-CO₂/low-O₂ atmospheres, pervasive dust, constrained water and nutrient availability, altered plant physiology, and the overarching need for closed-loop, resource-efficient systems. These stressors create an exceptionally challenging environment for plant …

Exploring Mediated Psychosocial Effects On Dating Violence Perpetration And Victimization In The Me & You Building Healthy Relationships Program For Middle School Students, Mike Henson-Garcia, Elizabeth R Baumler, Christine M Markham, Robert C Addy, Ross Shegog, Belinda Hernandez, Paula Cuccaro, Jeffery Temple, Susan Tortolero Emery, Melissa F Peskin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Teen dating violence (TDV) is a prevalent and injurious public health threat affecting adolescent populations across the globe. In response, a plethora of interventions have been developed and implemented with various effects emerging from evaluation studies of these prevention initiatives. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether attitudes toward sexting, gender-based norms toward violence, and constructive conflict resolution skills mediate the main effects of a TDV intervention. Specifically, this study leverages data from the original efficacy trial of the

Intouch Week Of December 8, 2025, New York Medical College

InTouch

No abstract provided.

Volume 45, Number 4, December 2025 Olac Newsletter, Laura Kane Mcelfresh, Lora Ericson, Michael Herrick, Tanesa G. King, Amanda Mack, Jan Mayo, Lisa Romano, Janelle Zetty

OLAC Newsletters

December 2025 issue of the OLAC Newsletter.

Using Light To Dissect Mechanisms Of Septin Recruitment, Shreya Chandrasekar

Dissertations

Cells interpret biochemical and mechanical signals through dynamic regulation of the cytoskeleton and adhesion complexes, enabling key processes such as shape adaptation, force generation and migration. As these signals vary in both time and space, they can be challenging to resolve using traditional bulk assays. To overcome this limitation, we employ light-based optogenetic tools to reversibly modulate biochemical signals and mechanical equilibrium within cells. Specifically, we use the iLID optogenetic approach to locally activate signaling and manipulate contractility within the cytoskeleton for the purpose of investigating the role of RhoA and contractility on septin organization and adhesion protein localization. We …

Imaging Reactive Oxygen Species With L-012 Reveals Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation In Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Angisha Basnet, Kaitlyn M Landreth, Michael Sestito, Kristen Ranson, Seth T Gammon, David Piwnica-Worms, Brian A Boone, Tracy W Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Neutrophils, key effector cells of the innate immune system, combat pathogens through mechanisms including the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). While these responses are critical for host defense, prolonged elevation of ROS and dysregulated NETosis mediated by neutrophils have been implicated in autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammation, and cancer. In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a highly aggressive and inflammatory malignancy, an increase in neutrophils infiltrating the tumor microenvironment promotes cancer progression and metastasis through increased ROS production and NET release. Using bioluminescence imaging with the reporter L-012 and NET assays, we assessed …

Precise Diagnosis Of Small Invasive Pulmonary Nodules Driven By Single-Cell Immune Signatures In Peripheral Blood, Yang Xia, Yin Zhu, Sai Zhang, Mo Zhou, Jiaqi Zhou, Guanxin Xu, Baiqin Zhao, Guofei Zhang, Qiyuan Wang, Bin Wang, Zexin Chen, Hongyu Shi, Xiuning Le, Tony Mok, Wei Chen, Junqiang Fan, Weiwei Yin, Wen Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Early detection of lung cancer is crucial for improving patient outcomes. However, accurately diagnosing invasive pulmonary nodules and predicting tumor invasiveness remain major clinical challenges. Given the established role of immune dysfunction in cancer development, we hypothesize that peripheral immune profiling could provide a strategy for managing pulmonary nodules. In this multi-center, prospective study, we combine peripheral immune profiling via mass cytometry with machine learning algorithms to develop an integrated pulmonary nodule management platform. This platform accurately distinguishes invasive from non-invasive pulmonary nodules (AUC = 0.952), outperforming established clinical and radiomics-based models. Furthermore, it effectively predicts tumor invasiveness, differentiating minimally …

Harnessing Blueberry Flower Chemistry And Morphology To Boost Pollination And Bee Health, Monica Borghi

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

The Impacts Of The St. Louis Guaranteed Basic Income Program On Quality Of Life, Hannah Allee, Grace Anderson, Rachel Barth, Laura Brugger, Meihsi Chiang, Alex Dobill, Leah Hamilton, Ashley Moore, Liz Rolf, Stephen Roll, Guangli Zhang

Center for Social Development Research

How does guaranteed basic income influence recipients’ quality of life?

In late 2023, the City of St Louis launched a pilot program providing $500 a month for 18 months to more than 500 low-income St. Louis households with children. Researchers from the Center for Social Development and the Brown School Evaluation Center conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of the program, tracking recipients’ journeys over the pilot’s duration. This brief presents findings on the effects of the St. Louis Guaranteed Basic Income Program on participants’ quality of life, including the ability to meet daily living expenses, the well-being of participants and their …

The Prospects And Challenges Of The 15-Minute City In South Florida, Mary Asumang Abankwa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The 15-Minute City model has emerged as a contemporary approach that aims to enhance accessibility, reduce reliance on automobiles, and improve the quality of life. Cities like Melbourne, Barcelona, and Paris have advanced in the applicability of this model. This study evaluates the prospects and challenges of the 15MC in South Florida. This research employs a mixed-methods research design, which includes reviewing the comprehensive plans of ten South Florida Cities and spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In addition to the comprehensive plan and policy review, Service Area Analysis was used to measure the 5, 10, 15, and 20-minute …

Deep Learning For Underwater Manatee Counting And Tracking, Theodor Owchariw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), a threatened marine mammal often found in coastal waters, require accurate monitoring to inform conservation strategies. However, traditional counting methods are hindered by observer bias and surface distortions. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) address these challenges using captured aerial footage of manatees, demonstrating the potential of artificial intelligence for automating manatee counting. Still, various challenges arise hindering accurate counts.

Building on these studies, this work advances artificial intelligence with underwater footage, instance segmentation, data augmentation, and pseudo-labeling to automate manatee counting in data-scarce environments. Three experiments were conducted using 10%, 60%, and 90% …