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Improving Chemotherapy Patients\u27 Confidence and Preparedness Through Dual-format Teaching
No full textSection I: Abstract
Objective
Chemotherapy initiation is widely recognized as a period of heightened anxiety and cognitive overload for oncology patients, often limiting their ability to retain essential information during traditional one-time, nurse-led education sessions (Gucuyener & Karabacak, 2025; Howell et al., 2020). This quality improvement (QI) project sought to address gaps in comprehension, preparedness, and digital engagement within an outpatient oncology infusion microsystem by integrating evidence-based digital chemotherapy education with structured follow-up support.
Aim
The project aimed to determine whether a nurse-guided walkthrough of a digital chemotherapy education platform, paired with standardized follow-up calls, would improve patient comprehension, confidence in managing treatment-related side effects, anxiety reduction, and engagement with educational modules.
Methods
Guided by Lewin’s Change Theory and the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) framework, a dual-format education model was implemented consisting of (1) nurse-facilitated digital education walkthroughs and (2) follow-up calls within 48–72 hours of chemotherapy initiation. Measures included digital module completion, self-reported confidence, comprehension, satisfaction, anxiety reduction, and follow-up call completion rates.
Results
Patients who received the dual-format education demonstrated substantial improvements in confidence, symptom-management comprehension, and preparedness. Digital engagement increased among participants who received guided walkthroughs, while nurses reported greater clarity and consistency in teaching. No unintended consequences were noted.
Conclusions
Dual-format chemotherapy education is a feasible, sustainable strategy that reinforces learning beyond the initial teaching session. Findings support ongoing integration of digital platforms, improved digital-literacy support, and standardized follow-up calls to enhance patient-centered chemotherapy education (Pagès et al., 2025; Sezgin et al., 2024)
Stop, Look, and Save a Spot! Implementing the HAPI Prevention Tool, A Visual Cuing System that Aims to Reduce Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries in Acute Care Units
No full textObjective: Hospital-acquired pressure injuries continue to be a major challenge in many healthcare settings as it poses increased risk in patient safety. Additionally, it creates a significant financial burden on hospitals as it increases operational costs that can increase strain on healthcare resource demands. Nurses play a major role in mitigating these injuries through practicing quality patient care and utilizing prevention strategies that have been proven effective. Aim: A quality improvement project was conducted by introducing a visual cueing system, the HAPI Prevention Tool to investigate its potential sustainability on reducing HAPI rates in the medical-surgical unit. Methods: The QI team introduced the HAPI Prevention Tool, a visual cueing signage that acted as a reminder and reinforcement for nursing staff to carry out essential prevention tasks such as patient positioning and consistent skin assessments are being implemented into practice. It was implemented for two weeks and was subsequently evaluated for its potential effectiveness and feasibility. Results: Post-implementation data suggested that 66.7% of nursing staff are willing to adopt this tool into practice and believe in its potential to prevent HAPIs. Conclusion: Overall feedback and responses highlighted the tool’s long-term sustainability and potential for success when it comes to improving patient care outcomes on these preventable injuries
Gleeson Library AI Taskforce Final Report
No full textDuring the Fall 2025 semester, the Gleeson Library AI Taskforce examined how artificial intelligence is influencing higher education and what those changes mean for library work at USF. By reviewing AI activity across campus, surveying library staff, and analyzing how Jesuit institutions are responding to AI, the Taskforce found a landscape that is evolving quickly but thoughtfully. Across these contexts, interest in AI literacy is growing, experimentation with new tools is expanding, and there is a clear need for library-specific guidance, particularly given that no Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) libraries have published AI policies or frameworks of their own.
To support the Library’s work in 2026, this report introduces a set of AI guiding principles and articulates shared values and expectations for ethical, responsible AI use. It also presents a set of recommendations that include six areas of emphasis to help focus the Library’s AI-related work, a structured process for transitioning AI-related planning and project selection to individual departments, and the creation of a dedicated webpage to document and communicate the Library’s AI work. Together, these recommendations offer a clear, mission-aligned direction for how Gleeson Library can move forward with AI in a thoughtful and collaborative way
Cartografías del Que(r)er: Subjetividades en Tránsito y Creación
No full textI propose insights into a theology in motion that maps «Wanting» [que(r)er]—love, desire, and the search for a whole life—amid multiple transitions: forced migrations, the climate crisis, queer and digital (epochal) subjectivities. From a territorial and incarnate biblical hermeneutic, I reread Scripture from the perspective of marginalized bodies and territories. I integrate feminist, postcolonial, and posthumanist contributions to think of creation as living territoriality and subjectivity of revelation. Human mobility and the wounded Earth are understood as intertwined cries that challenge the world. I present a potential open spiral of communion, in which all subjectivity—human and more-than-human—is welcomed into processes of justice, radical hospitality, care, tenderness, community resistance, and eschatological hope
Beyond “Do Not Disturb”: Alternatives and Possibilities of Feminism in Joyce Carol Oates\u27s \u3cem\u3eBabysitter\u3c/em\u3e
Full text link“Sympathize/don’t rage” was Joyce Carol Oates’s call as she concluded a tweet on the rights of people who are transitioning (20 February 2023). This statement could well be considered a prism through which we might see her work. Indeed, the author depicts a variety of characters handling situations very differently – and readers are left dealing with their own sympathy with them. Babysitter (2022) is a case in point in this regard: Hannah, the main female character, appears as a submissive figure replete with gender and class prejudice and lacking agency. As Oyinkan Braithwaite wrote in a review for The New York Times, “She has no discernible personality beyond being a privileged white woman, and she is content to look at the world through rose-colored glasses.” (August 22, 2022). Furthermore, she is obsessed with the mysterious man who brutally assaulted her and even comes back to him, leading to a second sexual assault. We might well say that it is not the first book that comes to mind when talking about feminism in Oates’ work. Yet “Babysitter” was first a short story published in 2006 in Ellery Queen, and Oates expanded it purposefully into a novel in the wake of the MeToo movement.
In my presentation, I will draw on Oates’s call for sympathy and examine how this story encourages the readers to take the risk of crossing the threshold and leave their certainties and preconceptions behind, challenging as Hannah does the “Do Not Disturb” sign that punctuates the novel. Sympathizing is also about acknowledging the complexity inherent in characters and recognizing the different ways women can behave, thus opening up possibilities and moving towards acceptance. The car is an important feature in the novel as it is the epitome of the different directions people might take and alternatives they might encounter. Building on this symbol, I intend to analyze the blind spots around feminism and gender that readers must consider in this complex journey through a book that defies expectations on many levels
Decolonial Underground Pedagogy: Unschooling and Subcultural Learning for Peace and Human Rights
Full text linkAs an Asian American unschooler growing up in California in the 1990s, I have heard (and had scolded at me by people outside my family) theories and ideas of what education is as well as what it can and cannot be. I vividly recall being told that homeschooling, let alone unschooling (i.e., learning outside of a curriculum or hierarchical structure, see page 57) would stunt my intellectual and social growth. How could I learn outside of a formal classroom? Fast forward 30 years and now I am a doctoral student in International and Multicultural Education, ecstatic to see a book in print on the very topic that I had once been told was neither valid nor viable. In Decolonial Underground Pedagogy: Unschooling and Subcultural Learning for Peace and Human Rights, Noah Romero shares insights from his research, life experience, and work at the intersection of decolonial education, unschooling, Punk Rock Pedagogy (PRP), and skate pedagogy, as informed by the Philippine decolonial, participatory community-based research framework known as pakapa-kapa. Throughout, Romero extends the possibilities of how and what we consider to be education and spaces of learning through skillfully weaving themes of personal experiences and cultural identity within the contexts of academic theory and subcultural histories
The Agrivoltaics Opportunity in California: Dual use of agricultural land to support energy transition and bolster climate resilience
Full text linkAgrivoltaics, which facilitates energy and food production on the same land, is an emerging technological approach that supports agricultural productivity while growing farm revenues through solar electricity sales. Agrivoltaics use in the United States is nascent, with only 2% of utility-scale solar projects integrating agricultural production. Based on estimated high- and low-end ranges in the scientific literature, I have calculated that California can use agrivoltaics to produce 20% of the additional 70 gigawatts of utility-scale solar required to meet the state’s 2045 zero-carbon electricity goal. This 20% target is ambitious and achievable, and the impacts across land use, greenhouse gas emissions, and water use are meaningfully positive. Achieving this target would require agrivoltaics on 4.8% to 9.6% of California’s 8.5 million acres of cultivated cropland. At this scale, agrivoltaics can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually, representing 14.6% of the state’s total in 2022. Additionally, shading from agrivoltaics over cropland can reduce irrigation by up to 20%, leading to significant water savings especially important in the Central Valley growing region. California can demonstrate energy transition leadership by proving that agrivoltaics on cultivated cropland works at scale to maintain food security, create new revenue opportunities, improve land use efficiency, and bolster climate resilience. To realize this potential, the state needs to amend the Williamson Act to eliminate a barrier to adoption, create an investment tax credit to incentivize use, and work closely with a new independent nonprofit organization to guide agrivoltaics rollout
The Algorithm of Inclusion: Homonationalism, Queer Advocacy, and Digital Marketing of UN ECOSOC INGOs and Indian NGOs
Full text linkAdvocacy organizations have increasingly turned to social media as digital platforms become integral to contemporary activism, shaping public discourse and securing institutional legitimacy. This thesis examines the organizational communication of organizations that support marginalized sexualities within a neoliberal and homonationalist context. Employing Critical Content Analysis (CCA), the study analyzes a representative sample of 200 Instagram posts from 2024, comparing two international NGOs with ECOSOC status at the UN (Outright International and ILGA) and two national NGOs in India (Humsafar Trust and Naz Foundation). The findings reveal how homonationalist tendencies may manifest at the intersection of engagement metrics, identity-centric rhetoric, brand management, and representational frameworks. Whilst similarities exist in approaches across LGBTQ+ centric INGOs and national NGOs, significant differences emerge in their reliance on Western symbolism, focus on structural advocacy, and engagement with decolonial praxis. Contrary to initial assumptions, the study finds that national NGOs inadvertently reproduce homonationalist tendencies, likely as a strategy to secure institutional credibility. On the other hand, INGOs show a gradual integration of intersectional ethics due to their organizational histories and global connections. This study contributes to a growing body of literature on rights for sexual minorities and advocacy frameworks and also fills in a critical gap, exploring the impact of neoliberal and homonationalist pressures on NGOs’ online presence. By applying critical theories of queer international relations and postcolonial studies, this study aims to creates a conversation between the two levels of advocacy, identifying areas for collaborations
Effectiveness of Urban composting and waste management in the San Francisco Bay Area
Full text linkThe increasing food waste epidemic contributes to environmental degradation through amplified GHG emissions, notably CH4, from MSW landfills. Addressing this challenge is essential for public health and environmental sustainability. This research reviews municipal composting initiatives within the San Francisco Bay Area, evaluating effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability. Utilizing data from CalRecycle and local municipalities, this study analyzes different composting processes, regulatory compliance with California’s Senate Bill 1383, and factors affecting waste diversion rates. Key discoveries indicate that in-vessel composting shows better efficiency and compost quality compared to windrow methods, particularly suitable for urban counties with space limitations. However, participation rates in municipal composting programs vary significantly, influenced by convenience, policy incentives, and community education. The paper suggests that enhancing local composting infrastructure and targeted community engagement are essential. Recommendations include investing in scalable composting technologies and reinforcement of inter-agency collaboration to maximize organic waste diversion
Pedaling Toward Justice: Exploring the Role of Community Advocacy in Shaping Bicycle Policy in Oakland.
Full text linkThe way people move through a city fundamentally shapes their access to jobs, essential services, and economic and social opportunities. While Oakland’s bicycle infrastructure has improved over the past decade, vehicle-centric planning has historically sidelined cycling, creating mobility inequities. This thesis examines the role of community advocacy in advancing equitable bicycle planning and prioritizing cycling infrastructure as a core element of urban development. This thesis project follows the question: what role do advocacy groups play in addressing the gaps between the Oakland Bicycle Plan and its implementation? Through policy analysis, community engagement, and interviews with key informants from Bike East Bay, a commissioner from the Oakland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, and a transportation planner from Oakland Department of Transportation this research explores the intersection of mobility justice with equity, gentrification, public safety, and sustainability. Ultimately, this thesis highlights the role in which community organizations provide by advocating for equitable transportation, bridging the gap between residents and planners. Despite progress, significant gaps remain in a fully realized bicycle network in Oakland, particularly in underserved communities. Strengthening collaboration between advocacy groups, city officials, and residents is essential to creating a safer, more accessible, and sustainable transportation system