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Effects of an Evidence-Based Practice Bundle Project on Nurse Empowerment
Get PDFThe project determined the effect of an Evidence-Based Practice bundle program on nurses’ perception of empowerment. The EBP bundle included 7 interventions implemented simultaneously throughout a small community hospital. There was a significant increase in nurses’ perception of empowerment (p\u3c.001), EBP beliefs (p\u3c.001), and use of EBP (p\u3c.001) after the implementation of an EBP bundle
Reverse Genetics: Downregulating chk-1 and fasn-1 in the Gonads of C. elegans
Get PDFDespite its widespread use in research, the model organism C. elegans has several biological processes like gonadal development with potentially unexplored genetic regulators. Previous transcriptome analysis has identified several genes that are upregulated in a specific tissue or sex during the development of the somatic gonad in C. elegans (Kroetz et al. 2015) that have not been previously connected to this process. Of these genes, this research is concerned with chk-1 and fasn-1. Abrogating the expression of these genes in gonadal tissue during gonadogenesis could cause a change in phenotype for affected C. elegans that would aid in understanding these genes’ regulatory role in this process. To accomplish this, we use CRISPR-Cas9 and homology-directed repair to modify the genome of C. elegans so that the proteins chk-1 and fasn-1 produce are tagged with GFP. These tagged proteins can be selectively degraded by the transgene GFP-nanobody-ZIF-1 degron system in somatic gonad tissues to achieve the desired abrogated expression of chk-1 and fasn-1 (Wang et al. 2017). To modify these genes with CRISPR, gRNA, and homology directed repair constructs were designed and created for each gene. With provided Cas9 endonuclease, the gRNA and homology directed repair construct would be injected into the germ cells of individual C. elegans to modify the genes-of-interest so that they produce GFP-tagged proteins. Future research would include cross-breeding the C. elegans animals containing GFP-tagged proteins with those containing the degron system to generate an animal containing both the GFP-tagged genes and the degron system in their genome
Role of GPER in Cadmium-Induced Phosphorylation of ERK1/2 in Ovarian Adenocarcinoma
Get PDFCadmium, a carcinogenic heavy metal, is an environmental contaminant found in air, water, and soil. It also exhibits endocrine disruptive properties by mimicking the proliferative effects of the hormone estrogen and is classified as a metalloestrogen. At low concentration levels in some cancer cells, cadmium induces cell proliferation and phosphorylation of ERK1/2, a key protein in the estrogen signaling pathway. While the signaling pathways for cadmium- induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 have been discovered in breast and lung cancer cells, it has not yet been fully determined in ovarian cancer cells. The fairly recent discovery of a transmembrane receptor found in estrogen responsive tissues, G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), presents a possible pathway for studying cadmium’s effects in ovarian cancer cells. To determine the role of GPER in cadmium-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2, two human ovarian adenocarcinoma cell lines, OVCAR3 and SKOV3, were treated for 30 minutes with 10 µM G15, a GPER inhibitor, followed by treatment with 100 nM CdCl2 for 10 minutes. Immunoblot analysis was performed to measure cadmium-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2. The results indicate that in both cell lines, G-15 decreased cadmium-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 suggesting that GPER may be play an important role in cadmium\u27s proliferative effect in ovarian adenocarcinomas
The Routine Use of Tympanometry to Prevent Unnecessary Antibiotics in Patients with Otalgia: An Evidence-Based Practice, Quality Improvement Project
Get PDFAbstract
Background: The use of Tympanometry to diagnosis Otitis Media with Effusion (OME) in adults is not routine practice in primary care, although it is supported by evidence and clinical practice guidelines. The misdiagnosis of OME frequently leads to inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, contributing to the rise in drug resistant infections.
Purpose: This evidence-based practice, quality improvement project sought to determine if the use of tympanometry by Family Nurse Practitioners (FNPs), to assess adults visiting primary care clinics, improved the accuracy of otitis media diagnoses and decreased unnecessary antibiotic therapy. The project also evaluated whether experience using the tympanometer was correlated with decreased changes in FNP diagnoses after the review of tympanometer tracings.
Methods: A single tympanometer was provided to four FNPs in two primary care clinics. Tympanometry was performed on patients presenting with ear or hearing complaints, without otorrhea, recent ear surgery, or recent trauma to the ear. FNPs performed routine otoscopy exams and made a diagnosis while tympanometry naïve (prior to reviewing tympanometry tracings), and then reviewed tympanometry tracings and either maintained the original diagnosis or changed their diagnosis.
Results: A total of 42 patients were seen during the project timeframe and FNPs changed their diagnoses in 45.2% of cases (n =19) after reviewing tymponometry tracings. Most changes in diagnoses resulted in a shift from abnormal to normal (63.2%), potentially preventing the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics. In addition, FNPs reported a review of tympanometry tracings informed their clinical decision making 69% of the time. Experience using the tympanometer was not significantly correlated with a decrease in changed diagnoses.
Discussion: While the number of cases was lower than expected, this project supports the use of tympanometers in primary care settings to diagnosis OME in adults
School Culture and Implementation of Future Teacher Recruitment Programs
Get PDFThe recruitment of new teachers to staff school vacancies has had a long history of difficulty in public schools across the United States. Strategies offered to improve teacher recruitment have often included intentionally and explicitly encouraging youth to consider pursuing a career in teaching through future teacher clubs. Educators Rising is a future teacher program, recognized by Kentucky as a Career and Technical Student Organization and supported by the Kentucky Department of Education. Despite its long history of promotion as a teacher recruitment strategy and the successes of other Career and Technical Education programs, Educators Rising remains highly underutilized across the commonwealth with only one out of three high schools participating in the program. This research used an implementation science framework to determine if working conditions are predictive of a school’s participation in Educators Rising. Data from the Impact Kentucky 2022 statewide school working conditions survey constructs of climate and leadership were extracted for 174 high schools included in the study sample and used for the analysis. Logistic regression, standard least squares regression, and discriminant analysis were used to explore the research questions of the study. The data did not produce statistically significant findings, leaving the hypotheses unsupported and further research recommended
Impact of Audio-Visually Enhanced Pedagogy on Student Performance and Satisfaction in the Blended Anatomy and Physiology Classroom
Get PDFDemand for Anatomy and Physiology (AP) courses is increasing with the popularity of health care professions in the United States. Institutions are adopting blended mode of delivery in AP classes for its practicality. This mode allows implementation of multimodal pedagogy in the curriculum. Hence, students get to choose the resource that matches their learning preferences; understanding student needs is instrumental in enhancing learning experiences in any course. This study aimed to assess the impact of audio-visual interactive media (AVIM) on performance and satisfaction in the virtual lectures of blended AP courses. This study was conducted in two blended AP courses at a two-year community college in the Midwestern United States using a mixed methods interventional case study approach with an A-B crossover design. Data were collected from computer-graded exams, two student satisfaction surveys, AVIM completion exit questions, and interviews. Multifactorial Analysis of Variances (ANOVA) between the groups showed statistically significant interaction effects. A paired sample t-test showed a statistically significant difference in exam scores between the control and treatment groups, with a mean increase of 5.03 percent after intervention. The survey results revealed higher satisfaction with all the learning resources; interactions and extra resources were identified as crucial factors in promoting effective learning. Furthermore, the data suggested that students benefit from multimodal pedagogy; retain information via repetition. Additionally, instructor guidance and presence enhanced satisfaction. Recommendations are made for instructors, instructional designers, students and future studies based on these findings such as resources that provide options for repetitions
