The University of Texas at Tyler
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Faculty bridging individual and organizational resilience: results of a qualitative analysis
Get PDFBackground: Medical student burnout and anxiety has received growing attention in the past decade. The culture of competition and assessment has resulted in increasing stress levels amongst medical students, causing a decline in their academic performance and overall mental health. The objective of this qualitative analysis was to characterize recommendations from educational experts to aid students’ academic progress. Methods: At an international meeting in 2019, worksheets were completed by medical educators during a panel discussion. Participants responded to four scenarios representing common challenges medical students face in school (eg. Postponing Step 1, failing clerkships, etc.). For each case, participants addressed what students, faculty and medical schools could do to mitigate the challenge. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted by two authors followed by deductive categorization using an individual-organizational resilience model. Results: Across the four cases, common suggestions made for students, faculty and medical schools were aligned to a resilience model representing the complex interplay between individuals and organizations and the impact on student wellbeing. Discussion: Using suggestions from medical educators from across the US, we were able to identify recommendations for students, faculty, and medical schools to help students succeed in medical school. By applying a model of resilience, faculty serve as a critical bridge to connect students to the medical school administration. Our findings also support a pass/fail curriculum to ease the competition and burden students place on themselves
Unsung heroes in health education and promotion: How Community Health Workers contribute to hypertension management
Get PDFRural communities are noted as having poor health outcomes. Rural areas experience barriers to care primarily due to a lack of resources, including education, health insurance, transportation, and social support. Additionally, poor health outcomes are a consequence of poor health literacy skills. Community Health Workers (CHWs) are utilized as a resource to combat these issues. This study focused on a CHW led Self-Management Blood Pressure (SMBP) program offered through the University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center. The goal of the program was to improve management of hypertension through awareness, education, navigation, advocacy, and resource assistance. The SMBP program included structured workshops and regular follow-up with participants including connections to community resources and social support. CHWs worked closely with physicians providing bi-directional feedback on referrals and engagement of communities through outreach events. Furthermore, CHWs aided to bridge cultural or linguistic gaps between service providers and community members. Data is provided indicating this CHW-led intervention played a significant role in improving hypertension through education of how to make lifestyle changes that impact overall health and quality of life. Participants gained knowledge encouraging them to create lifelong healthy habits, coping skills, stress management, self-care, and accountability. Through this innovative approach, participants thrived in the supportive and encouraging environment led by CHWs as well as improved their blood pressure management
Improving the Mental Health of Nursing Students by Utilizing a Serenity Room: A Benchmark Study
Get PDFResearch findings consistently show that even though improvements have been made through the years, there is much more work to be done concerning mental health nationwide, especially in nursing. Nurses are the front-line workers in healthcare and face challenging times daily. Mental health-related issues in nursing have increased on a national level since the COVID-19 pandemic (Xiong et al., 2022). A more significant nursing shortage will likely occur without drastic change and support for nurses’ well-being.
The purpose of this paper is to describe a benchmark Capstone project. This benchmark study was conducted with the goal of improving nursing students overall mental health. Effective management of mental health is essential when preparing to become a future nurse. Without the proper tools, support, and knowledge to manage one’s mental health, there is a greater chance of inadequate management when caring for patients, as it usually heightens stress. The literature was searched to determine the best evidence-based interventions for improving nursing students’ mental health. An intervention to implement a serenity room on a university campus was chosen.
Quantitative and qualitative descriptive data will be gathered through a Qualtrics software program obtaining pre- and post-intervention surveys. Data from the surveys will be imported into IBM SPSS statistical software and a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for analysis. Although this is a benchmark study and no results have been officially obtained, evidence supports that the inclusion of a serenity room will likely be beneficial. Future recommendations include sustaining this intervention by establishing a team to manage and maintain the room and ultimately growing the population to include all nursing students throughout an entire program. Future studies will allow collection of more research data to learn about the effects and benefits of using a serenity room in a nursing school setting
Massive Transfusion and Shock Index
Get PDFHemorrhagic shock is one of the leading causes of preventable death in military trauma patients. Literature shows that pre-hospital transfusions of blood products within the combat environment have shown to have a greater likelihood of survival. This has produced a challenge in the pre-hospital setting to have a standardized method of predicting the patient’s need for a massive transfusion. In the last few years, the development of a Massive Transfusion Protocol (MTP) has become the standard to quickly deliver blood products to actively bleeding patients. Every minute waiting to administer blood products increases mortality by 5%.
While initiating an MTP saves lives, it can result in a waste of limited blood products. This has led to developing criteria to score whether an MTP activation is needed. Currently, the American College of Surgeons recommends in the civilian trauma setting to use the Assessment of Blood Components (ABC) score, which requires a trained provider to complete a FAST exam. The most evidence-based literature shows that the shock index (SI) scoring system is more efficient to calculate and more sensitive compared to the ABC score. The SI score is the ratio of heart rate to systolic blood pressure and signifies hypovolemia and circulatory failure when the score is greater than 0.7. The current recommendation is to implement the shock index as the new standard criteria for initiating massive transfusion in the combat and pre-hospital setting
Benchmark: Impact of Weight Loss Education on Obese Patients
Get PDFObjective: With an epidemic as severe as obesity, it is paramount that healthcare professionals be aware of the overarching negative effects the disease can contribute to the human body. If constructive dialogue can be achieved between patient and provider without suspicion of bias or judgment, we would potentially experience an elevated willingness of patients to follow treatment steps.
Background: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. “Most of the world\u27s population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight” (WHO, 2021). “More than 4 in 10 Americans are obese now” (Gordon, More than 4 in 10 Americans are now obese: CDC 2020).
Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using several different databases. The databases used for this search were the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials database accessed through the University of Texas at Tyler school library resources. A total of three randomized control trials and three systematic reviews were selected.
Conclusion: By evaluating research evidence it is apparent that the responsibility of addressing patient weight loss as a healthcare provider presents an exigent task. Simply telling a patient that they need to lose weight or that they need to decrease caloric intake is not enough for the patient to be motivated and for long-term maintenance. Having patients comfortable with talking about weight loss with a provider in a nonjudgement zone and discussing treatment options, maintenance, and giving personalized nutrition packets to patients may be more efficient with decreasing a patient’s BMI overall
Importance and Impact of Diabetes Education on People with Diabetes
Get PDFThis paper aims to explain the significance and importance of why it is essential to offer patients with diabetes standardized education regarding their diabetes
Diabetes Education Benchmark Study
Get PDFDiabetes mellitus is a disease that happens when the body does not produce enough insulin or does not respond to insulin. Type two diabetes happens when there isn’t enough insulin produced in the body, when there is resistance to the action of insulin in the body, or when the body does not use the insulin produced properly (Type 2 Diabetes, n.d.). Type two diabetes is important because of the increasing incidence of the disease and the complications that come if not managed. Some of the complications associated with type two diabetes include heart disease, kidney disease, neuropathy, retinopathy, and diabetic foot. The goal is to help this population delay or prevent long-term complications through diet and exercise
GENERATION OF CHIMERIC RHINOVIRUSES PRESENTING SARS-COV-2 BROADLY NEUTRALIZING EPITOPES AND THEIR ANTIGENICITY CHARACTERIZATION
Get PDFThe global COVID pandemic is not yet fully under control as there were over 21 million new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections and over 50,000 deaths globally as of January of 2022. A heavily mutated variant of concern, Omicron is responsible for most of these cases which demands an urgency for a new vaccine. NIH reports over 180 vaccine candidates that use various strategies currently in development. However, a recurring concern with these vaccines is that the continuous viral mutations decrease the efficacy of vaccines. Therefore, we proposed to construct a human rhinovirus (HRV) based chimeric virus containing highly conserved, broadly neutralizing antibody epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 as a universal vaccine candidate. The HRV: SARS-CoV-2 chimeric virus was constructed using recombinant DNA technology, where DNA sequence encoding conserved epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 were inserted into HRV plasmid, transcribed into mRNA, and transfected into HeLa cells. With the research ongoing, we have inserted the epitopes of interest into HRV, however, we found the chimeric virus mutates itself to remove portions of the insert after being passaged a few times. Thus, we were unsuccessful in making the chimeric virus. Although this thesis research is focused on the construction and characterization of a chimeric virus as a vaccine candidate, the goal of the study is to develop an effective universal vaccine against different strains of SARS-CoV-2
EVALUATION OF PERSONALIZED LEARNING
Get PDFThe persistent challenges surrounding student achievement continue to raise questions about the effectiveness of personalized learning methods, and educators seek a reliable means to determine if the implementation of personalized learning can lead to improved academic outcomes. Improvement science presents a promising approach, providing iterative inquiry cycles and data-driven decision-making strategies that can empower teachers to make informed decisions (Regional Educational Laboratory Program, 2017). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of personalized learning on reading achievement in sixth-grade students on a Texas middle-school campus. While prior research has demonstrated promising outcomes with this learning method (Pane et al., 2015; Patrick et al., 2016; U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2017), additional studies are required to validate these findings comprehensively. This mixed-methods approach utilizes both qualitative and quantitative data collection to determine whether personalized education can be considered beneficial for improving students’ literacy aptitudes. Personalized learning incorporates multiple components designed to support improved learning outcomes, potentially leading to an overall boost in reading comprehension, as assessed by MAP testing (Benjamin, 2023). The goal was to examine the overall effectiveness of personalized learning by measuring reading outcomes for sixth-grade students on a Texas middle-school campus
Early Prone Positioning in Coronavirus-19 patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
No full textBecause of the nature of a benchmark project, unfortunately concrete data is unavailable, thus preventing actual conclusions to be drawn from an implemented project. However, the proposed and expected outcomes from the implementation of a the project described within this paper are believed to be overwhelmingly positive based on the gathered evidence reviewed here within. Based on the gathered evidence, it is highly recommended to proceed with the project as explained. Because early prone positioning occurs while the patient is awake, the patient maintains the ability to consent for themselves whether or not they would like to participate in early prone positioning. Throughout implementation, various patients and their charts will be screened and reviewed by the trained personnel to determine eligibility. Of course, due to the individual nature of prone positioning, evaluation will take place at various times for each patient. Evaluation will be conducted by the process defined within this project. It is my strong belief that the outcomes will be evaluated at having a beneficial effect on the patients involved. Once outcomes have been evaluated and a thorough, professional report has been generated describing the project as proposed, evidence should be disseminated appropriately to other facilities looking to implement a change such as this for COVID-19 patients. As we consider this disease process as a whole and the toll it has taken on healthcare workers, countless patients, and society as a whole across the globe, any efforts taken to mitigate the risks and negative outcomes of COVID-19 should be considered and embraced with open minds and open arms as we seek to be prepared to face respiratory disease moving forward