Twenty community health and leadership nursing students, working with School of Nursing faculty members Cathy Deckys and Pam Strohfus, recently developed and coordinated four meningitis clinics on campus. The clinics were in partnership with the Idaho Immunization Coalition and included assistance from several other volunteers from Boise State and the local community. Virginia Tech student Rayna DuBose also came to inaugurate the first clinic in March. DuBose was stricken with meningitis disease in 2001, losing all of her limbs to this disease. (more…)

Cecile B. Evans, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, School of Nursing faculty, gave a Skype interview to Victoria Camblin, writer, editor of 032c magazine (Berlin) and a doctoral candidate at the University of Cambridge, as part of an art exhibition at the Wysing Arts Centre at the University of Cambridge.

The Wysing Arts Centre exhibit, “Relatively Absolute Day of Live Events” is a group exhibition consisting of newly commissioned work, as well as the source material that has informed it’s making, by the twelve artists, and the writer and musician who worked in the Wysing residency program. Central to the Relatively Absolute is the idea that hidden systems and structures can be used to uncover meaning, narrative and paradox. (more…)

On April 23 and 25, nursing students volunteered to perform blood pressure screenings at Micron for employees. The Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention program (HDSP), a division of the Department of Health and Welfare, organized this event with Micron. Students took manual blood pressures and did education with employees.

Students valued the “repetitive practice” and employees enjoyed interacting with enthusiastic students. A total of 131 Micron employees were screened by seven students. The HDSP team is analyzing the data collected from these screenings. (more…)

Wenyi Chen with her poster at the Undergraduate Research Conference

Nine College of Health Sciences students from the Department of Community and Environmental Health and the School of Nursing presented their research at the annual Boise State University Undergraduate Research & Scholarship Conference, held on April 15 in the Student Union.

“Research is central to the undergraduate experience here at Boise State,” said Sharon McGuire, vice provost for undergraduate studies. “The projects being presented at this conference demonstrate the scope and depth of undergraduate research being conducted at Boise State. We appreciate our faculty for creating these opportunities for students that facilitate engaged learning, critical thinking and application of knowledge.”

Boise State undergraduate students play a prominent role in research programs across various disciplines around the university. The 10th annual event, which will be a blend of podium, poster and performing arts presentations, allows the campus and greater community to meet students and learn about their meaningful explorations of everything from choreography to cancer treatment and alternative energy to marketing.

COHS Poster Presentations:

Current Research Assistant’s Learning Experience at Boise State University School of Nursing
Presenter: Wenyi Chen
Faculty Mentor: Cathy Deckys, MSN, RN, COHN-SNC – School of Nursing

Civility as a Learned And Essential Skill In Nursing Education
Presenter: Danh Nguyen, Lyn Ages
Faculty Sponsor: Cindy Clark, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN – School of Nursing

The Benefits of Undergraduate Research Assistantships in Nursing
Presenter: Ryoko Pentecost
Faculty Sponsor: Jane Grassley, PhD, RN, IBCLC – School of Nursing

Enhancing Access to Cultural Health Assessment Instruments for Refugees in Idaho
Presenter: Samantha Fundingsland
Faculty Sponsor: Karen Breitkreuz, MSN, ED.D., RN, CNE – School of Nursing

COHS Podium Presentations:

Survey of Health Care Attorneys Regarding Content of an Undergraduate Health Law and Ethics Course
Presenters: Connor Sheldon, Brandon Skenandore (Honors), Veronica Hollingshead, Liz Moorhead
Faculty Sponsor: Andy Hyer, JD, MHS – Department of Community and Environmental Health

The Idaho Smiles Medicaid Plan: Benefits, Issues, and Effects on Children’s Dental Care
Presenter: Brandon Skenandore (Honors)
Faculty Sponsor: Andy Hyer, JD, MHS – Department of Community and Environmental Health

Karen Breitkreuz, faculty in the School of Nursing, and Shawn Dunnagan, faculty in the Department of Community and Environmental Health, are helping students understand what it means to be a global citizen. Breitkreuz and Dunnagan are two of five Boise State faculty teaching an interdisciplinary course, “Global Citizenship and Social Responsibility,” which featured a field trip to Belize over spring break. This effort supports the College of Health Sciences’ interprofessional efforts to train students through interdisciplinary teams. Program director Tony Songer, chair of the Department of Construction Management, led this collaborative effort among Boise State University Colleges of Education, Engineering, Health Sciences and Honors. Twenty-two Boise State students from a variety of disciplines planned and implemented a variety of projects around the theme of “healthy lifestyles” in the village of Corozal, Belize in this unique project, which they called “the Boise State University Corozal, Belize 2013 Peace Village.” (more…)

Cynthia Clark, professor in the School of Nursing, presented the plenary address at the Creating Healthy Work Environments Conference in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 12. The conference was sponsored by Sigma Theta Tau International, the international honor society for nursing. Her presentation was titled “Creating and Sustaining Civility in Nursing Education and Practice” and focused on the causes and consequences of workplace incivility and evidence-based strategies to create and sustain organizational civility and healthy, collegial workplaces.