Digital Commons Network^™

Can Schools Sustain The Rising Cost Of Retiree Health Care?, Robert Bifulco, Iuliia Shybalkina

Center for Policy Research

Many New York State school districts spend significant amounts each year for retiree health care benefits, and these payments are expected to grow over the coming decades. This brief summarizes findings from a study examining approximately 300 New York State school districts. Unlike retiree pension plans, which are typically prefunded, retiree health care benefits are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis, meaning that benefits for past employees who are currently retired are paid using current district revenues. In the average school district, pay-as-you-go spending currently amounts to 4.5 percent of district revenues. Assuming current benefit and funding policies remain, spending is …

The Elements Necessary For A Successful Startup, Ciaran Mcgurran

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

This paper seeks to uncover what really goes into a startup company to get it off the ground, keep it afloat and growing, and mitigate competition through a case study focus on a software-aided investment-strategy building company. Through an interview of the founder and CEO of the case company as well as first-hand experience working in the company, this paper will seek to gain an understanding of the necessary elements and planning that must go into a startup company for it to have success. Additional online texts also provide supplementary general information on startups and how the planning process is …

Longitudinal Quality Improvement Project To Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening For An Underserved Population In A Resident Physician-Led Primary Care Clinic., Vivek Vardhan Jasti, Sarah N Grebennikov, Mariah Barlow, David Y Lo, Shail M Govani, Miram Chan, Aimee E Willett, Christopher Barlow

Medical Education Articles

BACKGROUND: The overall rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the US population have been declining steadily over the past 30 years, in large part due to timely cancer screenings. Despite the emergence of new screening modalities, a large portion of the population has not completed CRC screening in accordance with guidelines. Adequate and timely screening can prevent or detect CRC in earlier stages. Various factors have been identified that influence screening completion. Lower screening rates have been associated with the underserved population, especially in the immigrant community and patients with inadequate access to healthcare. In the USA, primary care clinics …

Sonrisas Por Millas/Smiles For Miles, Kristi K. Westphaln, Carol Lynn Cunningham

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Hispanic/Latine children experience greater oral disease burden than other groups of US children. Attendees at the session will learn about the Sonrisas por Millas/Smiles for Miles program, within which UCLA School of Nursing faculty and nurse practitioner students will partner with the Refugee Children's Center (RCC) to provide and evaluate a novel community-based intervention to promote oral health for refugee children and their families.

When Knowing Isn’T Enough: Advancing Clinical Judgment In Nursing Education, Rachael Frija

Biennial Convention (CONV)

This session explores how academic programs can strengthen clinical judgment through competency-based assessment and AI-enabled learning tools. Using data from new graduate clinical judgment assessments, participants will discover how HealthStream’s Competency Suite Student Edition supports earlier identification of judgment gaps, personalized development, and smoother transitions from the classroom to practice.

Financial Barriers Of Emu Nursing Students, Deanna Gower, Melissa Kachaturoff, Meriam Caboral-Stevens

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Student loan debt for undergraduate BSN and Master’s prepared nursing students is growing. Many nursing students take out student loans to pay for their educational expenses. While some students apply for and obtain scholarships and grants, Eastern Michigan University (EMU) School of Nursing (SON) has had scholarships go unutilized during the annual scholarship cycle. Nursing student loan repayment can be a financial burden for nurses and their families. The purpose of the survey was to examine what financial barriers nursing students experience while enrolled at EMU SON. This study was performed utilizing a survey via google forms and data was …

Provider Perspectives Of Produce Prescription Programs In A Rural Community: Evaluating Barriers, Heather Joy Ward, Sarah Giaquinta, Susan Storey

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Poor diet is the leading identifiable cause of poor health.¹ Diets high in produce are recommended to improve chronic diseases.² Food insecurity, the inability to access sufficient food to meet basic needs,³ has higher rates among rural households.⁴ Produce Prescription Programs (PPP) successfully pair access to fruits/vegetables with education by a dietician⁶ for people with chronic disease. Health care providers (HCPs) are well-suited to screen for food insecurity and refer patients to PPPs. However, day-to-day practice demands make this challenging .^7,8 This project examined HCPs perceptions of and barriers to referring patients to PPPs. …

Exploring The Concept Of Nurse Savvy And Its Role In Clinical Judgement: A Hybrid Concept Analysis, Lynae M. Phillips Mitchell, Deanna L. Reising

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Introduction: The skills nurses bring to clinical situations have a much greater impact on clinical judgement than information gathered at the scene (7). How nurses make decisions is a complex process, often eclipsed by competing influences rooted in personal, organizational, and patient related factors (1,2,4). The purpose of this study was to establish a conceptual definition of nurse savvy to explain why some nurses exhibit this superior clinical judgement.

Design: Reynold’s (5) hybrid concept analysis model was chosen because it offers both an inductive and deductive approach, lending itself to the identification of those aspects essential to the concept while …

Minority Stress In Nursing, Allma Swier

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Problem. The physiological and psychological stress caused by adverse social conditions affecting minority groups impacts their ability to function in academia, the workplace, and other areas of life.

Purpose. This literature review examines the impact of minority stress on nurses' and nursing students' perceptions of their environment and overall satisfaction with the profession.

Search Strategy. Articles for this literature review were found using electronic databases CINAHL and PubMed.

Results. Twenty-two articles were selected for analysis. All articles were appraised using Joanna Briggs Institute tools to ensure validity.

Synthesis of Evidence. Nurses and nursing students belonging to a minority group report …

Does The Green Bandana Project Improve Student Access To Behavioral And Mental Health Resources?, Taylor Anthony

Biennial Convention (CONV)

The Green Bandana Project raises mental health awareness, reduces stigma, and connects students to mental health and suicide prevention resources. The GBP promotes the importance of mental health support and suicide awareness across collage campuses. The analyzation of self, faculty and staff referrals, can inspire other college campuses to introduce GBP into their community, destigmatizing discussions about suicide and mental health support for undergraduate students.

Designing A Qi Initiative: Preoperative Bathing In The Ed For Adult Hip Fracture Patients, Mihyun Jang, Susan Maynard, Sheri Matter, Andrea Sillner

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Surgical site infections (SSIs) following hip fracture surgeries in adults are severe complications that increase morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Preoperative bathing, particularly with chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG), reduces the risk of surgical site infection after hip fracture surgery by decontaminating skin flora, such as Staphylococcus aureus. Compliance with preoperative bathing protocols remains low, especially among adult patients admitted through emergency departments. To address the gap in preoperative bathing compliance, a quality improvement initiative will implement a preoperative bathing protocol using CHG wipes in the emergency department for adult hip fracture patients. Currently, there is a lack of evidence regarding the …

Stakeholders' Perceptions Regarding The Incorporation Of Ubuntu Values In Pregnancy Interventions, Sinethemba Nyandeni, Fhumulani Mulaudzi, Nombulelo Sepeng

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Background: Current interventions for preventing teenage pregnancy in South Africa lack multi-stakeholder involvement and Ubuntu values. As a result, these limitations create barriers to their acceptability and implementation by teenagers and stakeholders, evidenced by recorded 67,389 deliveries among girls aged 15 to 19 years and 1,424 deliveries among girls aged 10 to 14 years in Gauteng province (Khanyile, 2025).

Aim: This study aimed to explore and describe stakeholders’ perceptions regarding incorporating Ubuntu values in interventions to prevent teenage pregnancy. The study findings will further propose how the Ubuntu values might be incorporated into the interventions.

Methods: This study followed the …

An Integrative Review Of Perceptions Of Mpox Within The Men Who Have Sex With Men Community, Lauren Longacre, Marcia Y. Shade, Elizabeth L. Beam

Biennial Convention (CONV)

As mpox (monkeypox) cases decline worldwide, ongoing global inequities in transmission rates among men who have sex with men (MSM) persist. These inequities are influenced by perception and misinformation, however, research on perceptions of mpox in relation to MSM remains underdeveloped.

The purpose of this integrative review is to synthesize the evidence on perceptions of mpox as it relates to the MSM community.

A database search within CINAHL, APAPsycInfo and MEDLINE was conducted between January, 2022 and June, 2023. Mesh terms included "stigma", “bias”, “perception”, “social”, “attitude” and “monkeypox". Articles were screened to include the interaction between perceptions, MSM, and …

Supporting Mental Health In Schools: Empowering The School Nurse, Sahara Aguilar, Julie A. Thompson, Linda Crawford, Malinda Teague, Mariam Kayle

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Youth mental health is a national public health priority, marked by high rates of depressive episodes and suicidal ideation, often without adequate treatment. School nurses are pivotal in addressing these challenges, providing essential prevention, early identification, intervention, and referral services. This project details the implementation of the evidence-based Mental Health Training Intervention for Health Providers in Schools (MH-TIPS), designed to enhance the knowledge, confidence, and preparedness of Southern California school nurses in identifying and referring students with mental health conditions. Participants completed a three-week in-service program, integrating self-paced MH-TIPS modules with web-based presentations and collaborative development of local resource maps. …

To Educate Low Health Literacy Populations On The Best Practices Related To Childhood Immunizations, Mary Catherine Mantler, Myra Sternlieb

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Health literacy is the ability to use basic skills that impact effective healthcare¹. Childhood immunizations have dramatically reduced morbidity annually². However, with recent anti-immunization propaganda, misinformation results in reduced immunization rates, especially in low literacy populations. The National Immunization Survey found that nearly all childhood immunization coverage is reduced in children born in 2020-2021 than in their peers born in 2018-2019, especially among Latino youth compared to their white counterparts³. Researchers concluded that vaccine rates improved with higher health literacy rates, suggesting an understanding of provided material is crucial in helping adults perform informed …

Understanding The Influence Of Parental Knowledge And Awareness On Conversations About Osec, Trey Gottman

Biennial Convention (CONV)

Current literature suggests that parents’ lack of knowledge and awareness of OSEC may negatively impact their willingness to initiate conversations about the topic with their children, acknowledge warning signs of OSEC, and seek relevant educational sources regarding OSEC. The purpose of this study is to explore parents’ knowledge of OSEC, whether they are currently having conversations about OSEC with their children, and their interest in educational resources about OSEC through convenience sampling with a simple questionnaire. This study finds evidence supporting the idea that, regardless of parents’ knowledge of OSEC, they are having conversations with their children about the topic. …

The Use Of Storytelling In Covid-19 Vaccine Promotion: A Scoping Review Of Interventions And Campaigns, Suha Ballout, Sabreen A. Darwish, Patricia J. Kelly, Teresa Keller, Ross Shegog, Basil H. Aboul-Enein

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

BACKGROUND: The development of the COVID-19 vaccine, a groundbreaking scientific advancement, also fueled vaccine hesitancy mainly due to vaccine misinformation and the limited public understanding of the new technology and its rapid pace of development and deployment. A variety of public health communication strategies have been used that include engaging the community in identifying and developing messages, using culturally appropriate communication methods, applying behavioral health principles, and storytelling. The purpose of this scoping review was to assess the most relevant evidence from the research literature on storytelling interventions to mitigate COVID vaccine hesitancy during the pandemic.

METHODS: A scoping review …

Gene Expression Profile–Based Test To Predict Melanoma Sentinel Node Status, Tina J. Hieken, Michael E. Egger, Christina V. Angeles, John R. Hyngstrom, Erin E. Burke, Michael C. Lowe, Georgia M. Beasley, Edmund K. Bartlett, Scott C. Bresler, Kelly L. Harms, Jonathan S. Zager, Julia S. Lehman, Nabil Wasif, Sanjay P. Bagaria, Kelly M. Mcmasters, David A. Wada, Prakash Pandalai, Keith A. Delman, Jay Lee, Klaus J. Busam, Jane L. Messina, Vernon K. Sondak

Surgery Faculty Publications

Importance Contemporary guidelines recommend sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for patients with melanoma with predicted risk of SLN metastasis greater than 10% and consideration of SLNB when the risk is 5% to 10%. A gene expression profile (GEP)–based test that can accurately identify patients with a low risk of SLN metastasis would refine selection for SLNB. Objective To establish the predictive capability of the combined clinicopathological factors and GEP (CP-GEP) test to identify patients with primary cutaneous melanoma who can safely forgo SLNB and to investigate the prognostic value of CP-GEP regarding the outcome in patients with cutaneous melanoma after …

Implementing An Ehr Handoff Tool To Improve Care Transitions For Patients Requiring Inpatient Dialysis, Jolly Mathews

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

Purpose

The Quality Improvement (QI) project aimed to implement an electronic health record (EHR)-based SMART phrase handoff tool to improve patient safety outcomes, such as reducing Clinical Emergency Response Team (CERT) activations by 20% during dialysis treatments, minimizing treatment delays, and decreasing communication errors during care transitions. 

Background

The lack of a standardized handoff process led to adverse patient events and prolonged hospital stay. Joint Commission identifies communication failures as a leading cause of sentinel events and recommends using structured handoff tools.

Methodology

The project was implemented at a dialysis unit at Texas Medical Center, Houston. A SBAR (Situation, Background, …

Exploring Predictors Of School Lunch Completion: Taste, Time, And Student Preferences, Bhanoday Boda

Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Struggles Of Minorities In Low-Income Communities With Affording And Financing Housing In San Antonio, Daniel Maes

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

Affordability of housing has emerged as a major socio-economic issue in San Antonio, Texas,

especially among minority groups and other low-income groups. This thesis provides an analysis of the underlying factors that lead to housing unaffordability and the systemic factors that deny

these groups of people a chance to live in stable and affordable houses. This paper combines both primary survey data of local residents and secondary governmental and academic data, which

allows identifying the intersection of income differences, increased property prices,

gentrification, and the lack of affordable housing to worsen the affordability crisis. The

evaluation of the perception of …

Retrospective Review Of Metastatic Hormone Receptor-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer Patients Reveals Poor Responses To Cyclin Dependent Kinase 4/6 Inhibition, Azadeh Nasrazadani, Rebecca S Tidwell, Megumi Kai, Bora Lim, Vicente Valero, Debu Tripathy, Sadia Saleem, Bisrat G Debeb, Anthony Lucci, Wendy A Woodward, Rachel M Layman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) have aggressive biology and relatively inferior responses to standard-of-care (SOC) therapies. Understanding the efficacy of SOC therapies in IBC is critical to optimize outcomes. Our objective was to assess the progression-free survival (PFS) of metastatic hormone receptor-positive HER2-negative/low (HR+HER2-) IBC patients treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors (CDKIs) and hormonal therapy (HT).

Methods: Data from 58 IBC patients with metastatic HR + /HER2- IBC from a single institution were reviewed. The medians (95% confidence intervals) of overall survival (OS), PFS, and time on treatment (ToT) from the time of CDKI initiation were reported via the …

Seed Amplification Of Msa Alpha-Synuclein Aggregates Preserves The Biological And Structural Properties Of Brain-Derived Aggregates, Fei Wang, Victor Banerjee, Carla Barria, Santiago Ramirez, Tyler Allison, Damian Gorski, Haley Evans, Quynh Nguyen, Danielle Harrison, Rabab Al-Lahham, Nicole De Gregorio Carbonell, Michelle Pinho, Sanne Kaalund, Jonas Folke, Susana Aznar, Luis Concha-Marambio, Mohd Ishtikhar, Venkata Kps Mallampalli, Sandra Pritzkow, Mohammad Shahnawaz, Matthew L Baker, Irina Serysheva, Claudio Soto

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Parkinson's disease (PD), Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple system atrophy (MSA), are characterized by the misfolding and aggregation of alpha-synuclein (αSyn). Compelling evidence showed that αSyn aggregates exist as distinct conformational strains in different synucleinopathies. Recently, we reported that the αSyn Seed Amplification Assay (αSyn-SAA) can amplify and distinguish αSyn strains from PD and MSA. In this study, we investigate whether MSA-seeded, SAA-amplified αSyn fibrils retain the biological and structural properties of the αSyn seeds present in MSA brains. We study the biological activities of both brain-derived and SAA-amplified αSyn aggregates using an αSyn "biosensor" cell model and …

Assessing The Function Of The Alternative Electron Transport Chain In The Cryptosporidium Parvum Mitosome, Silu Deng, Wandy Beatty, L David Sibley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

UNLABELLED:

IMPORTANCE: Cryptosporidiosis is a leading cause of diarrhea in young children and immunocompromised individuals, particularly AIDS/HIV patients. The only FDA-approved drug against cryptosporidiosis, nitazoxanide, has limited effectiveness in immunocompromised patients and is not approved for use in children under 1 year. Genomic analysis and previous studies proposed an alternative respiration pathway involving alternative oxidase (AOX) and type II NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (NDH2), which are thought to generate the mitosome membrane potential in

Patent Searching With Uspto, Derwent Innovation And Lens.Org, Ibis Anette Moreno-Lozano

Day Family Research Lab Workshop Series

No abstract provided.

High School Science Experience For Students With Cognitive Disabilities: A Pilot Study, Cassandra Wychers

Honors Theses

Although education has become more adaptive, inclusive of all students who learn differently including for people with cognitive disabilities, closer examination may reveal that high school science classrooms are still challenging learning spaces. Science is an important part of the school curriculum as it teaches students about engaging in the world around them while also encouraging skills involving evidence, inquiries, and critical thinking. All students are entitled to learn science in their classrooms even if they have a cognitive disability (Apanasionok, et al. 2019). Although there are many complexities to defining disability in the world and in education, this study …

The Impact Of Discontinuation And Non-Publishing Of Osteoporosis Clinical Trials, Daxton Kennington, Andrew Simonsen, Whitney Shae, Catherine L. Satterwhite

Student Publications

Context: Osteoporosis is a prevalent chronic disease associated with fractures, reduced quality of life, and substantial healthcare costs. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are essential for developing effective treatments, but when trials are discontinued or unpublished, valuable data are lost. This results in unnecessary costs and exposes thousands of participants to interventions without contributing to clinical care.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the rates and characteristics of discontinuation and nonpublication among US-registered phase 3 and 4 RCTs investigating osteoporosis therapies from 2000 to 2022.

Methods: Phase 3 and 4 osteoporosis-related RCTs were identified through ClinicalTrials.gov. Trial completion and publication status …

A Canadian Advanced Physiotherapist Practitioner Shared-Care Model In Pediatric Rheumatology Offers Safe And Quality Care In The Management Of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis-Comparing Key Performance Indicators With The Pr-Coin Registry., Julie Herrington, Patrick Clarkin, Jade Singleton, Karen Beattie, Sheetal S. Vora, Katelyn Banschbach, Catherine A. Bingham, Tania Cellucci, Danielle Fair, Mileka Gilbert, Beth Gottlieb, Julia G. Harris, Liane Heale, Tzielan Lee, Melissa L. Mannion, Edward J. Oberle, Nancy Pan, Jonathan Park, Mary Toth, Jennifer E. Weiss, Michelle Batthish, Pediatric Rheumatology Care And Outcomes Improvement Network

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Background/Objectives: Canadian Advanced Physiotherapist Practitioner (APP) roles have existed for over 25 years in pediatric rheumatology. The APP can manage many common pediatric rheumatic conditions most often in Shared-Care Models (SCMs) with pediatric rheumatologists (PRs). The quality of care children receive in an APP SCM compared to traditional care is unknown. The Pediatric Rheumatology Care and Outcomes Improvement Network (PR-COIN) tracks quality measures as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) care. This study aimed to analyze the frequency of KPIs documented in a pediatric rheumatology APP SCM from a single center and compare to PR-COIN's performance …

Presentation, Diagnosis, And Acute Treatment Of Secondary Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis: A Case Report, Alexandra Bartholomew, Michael Connick, Catherine Loehr, Shane Sanne

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare, immunologically driven disorder with a high mortality rate. It is typically diagnosed on the basis of clinical and laboratory criteria. We present the case of a 53-year-old woman with multiple previous hospitalizations for fever of unknown origin and fatigue. Her workup ultimately led to a diagnosis of HLH. We discuss the presentation, diagnostic criteria, and clinical treatment of secondary HLH to guide workup and management for future patients affected by this rare disease.

Electrochemical Detection Of Aβ42 And Aβ40 At Attomolar Scale Via Optimised Antibody Loading On Pyr-Nhs-Functionalised 3d Graphene Foam Electrodes, Muhsin Dogan, Sophia Nazir, David Jenkins, Yinghui Wei, Genhua Pan

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is one of the most commonly seen neurodegenerative disorders, where early detection of its biomarkers is crucial for effective management. Conventional diagnostic methods are often expensive, time-consuming, and highly complex, which highlights an urgent need for point-of-care biosensing technology. In this work, we developed assays on three-dimensional (3D) graphene foam electrodes by functionalising them with a 1-Pyrenebutyric acid N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (Pyr-NHS) to enable effective antibody immobilisation for the detection of amyloid beta peptides (Aβ42 and Aβ40), key biomarkers for AD. Pyr-NHS linkers were used for stable functionalisation, followed by binding with Aβ42 and Aβ40 antibodies, and then …