91原创

For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and honors of 91原创 faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Recent appointments, presentations, publications and honors in the College of Health Sciences include the following:

Awards

罢丑别听听(颁贰贬顿)听聽(DIEEC) was designated as a Delaware Health Hero through the 2023 Lt. Governor鈥檚 Wellness Challenge for its聽聽program. This recognition聽honors the individuals, organizations and institutions that help make healthy choices the easiest choices for their communities. Designed by Rena Hallam, DIEEC director and professor in CEHD鈥檚 Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, and Laura Lessard, associate professor in the聽College of Health Sciences鈥檚聽Department of Health Behavior and Nutrition Sciences, Shining the Light on You is an innovative health and wellness program tailored for family child care educators.

罢丑别听School of Nursing聽(SON) 2023 graduates recently obtained a 94% passing rate on the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) as first-time takers. This licensing exam is a requirement after graduation before nurses can work in their field. The 2023鈥檚 passing rate reflected a 14-point increase over 2022 and can be attributed to the addition of new resources like ATI (Assessment Technologies Institute), implemented by SON to prepare students for this comprehensive exam. ATI provides learning tools designed to meet the unique learning system of each individual, spanning across their initial steps into a nursing school all the way up to the licensing exam. After passing the exam, new nurses can quickly acquire jobs in their field. The profession of nursing challenges has been growing even before the COVID-19 pandemic, new nurses swiftly passing the NCLEX and starting their careers is a critical step in ensuring enough practitioners are available to meet patient needs. 鈥淲ith the great need of nurses both locally and nationally, the ability for us to have so many students quickly pass the exam and join the workforce is incredible,鈥� said Elizabeth Speakman, senior associate dean, chief academic officer and professor for the School of Nursing. 鈥淭his is a testament to the dedication of our faculty and students to leap right into their careers and 91原创 SON鈥檚 effort to help alleviate the huge nursing shortage.鈥�

Jennifer Peticacis, who graduated from the School of Nursing in the College of Health Sciences in 2021, recently won the聽. The international honor from the Daisy Foundation allows patients, families and co-workers to express gratitude to nurses for providing compassionate care. Peticacis, a labor and delivery nurse at ChristianaCare, was nominated for the award by a patient鈥檚 husband after his wife was admitted for severe preeclampsia.聽

, in the application, the nominator wrote: 鈥淛enn was fantastic in making sure my wife was cared for and doing well. Thank you for allowing my wife and I to have a pleasant experience in a moment where we weren鈥檛 sure what to expect.鈥�

Peticacis called it a great honor to be recognized.聽

鈥淎t times, as nurses, we forget that this is a patient鈥檚 big experience, and they鈥檙e going to remember it forever,鈥� Peticacis said. 鈥淪o, it means a lot to me that this family appreciated the role I played in their story and that they鈥檒l remember what can be a scary and anxiety-inducing experience in a positive way. We don鈥檛 do it for recognition, but when we get that positive feedback and see our positive impact as nurses, it makes a difference.鈥澛�

Elizabeth Speakman, senior associate dean for the School of Nursing, said it鈥檚 wonderful to see a 91原创-educated nurse recognized so early in her career.聽

鈥淲e are so proud of Jenn,鈥� Speakman said. 鈥淪he truly exemplifies what we hope all our graduates become 鈥� the nurse who, during a patient's most challenging moment, provides excellent and compassionate care.鈥澛�

Alyssa Selimov, a second-year student in the聽Doctor of Nursing Practice聽(DNP) program and teaching assistant, won the 2023 Innovation Graduate Scholarship from the Tri-State Consortium Sigma Theta Tau International at the organization鈥檚 37th annual conference held this year on 91原创鈥檚 STAR Campus on Oct. 22. Selimov was honored to receive the $500 award that will help fund tuition expenses.

鈥淭he theme of this year鈥檚 conference was innovation, and I was in awe of the inspiring and exciting research underway in the field of nursing aimed at improving population health,鈥� Selimov said.

As part of her doctoral research, Selimov, who aspires to work in public health, is working to implement evidence-based suicide screening into primary care at the聽on STAR Campus.

Jennifer Saylor, associate dean of faculty and student affairs for the聽School of Nursing聽(SON), and聽Jennifer Graber, associate dean of academic affairs and practice initiatives for SON, who also serves as Selimov鈥檚 DNP advisor, nominated her for the award.

鈥淪uicide is a public health problem. The continued exclusion of evidence-based universal suicide screenings poses a threat to patient safety,鈥� Graber wrote in her nomination. 鈥淢s. Selimov is aware that refraining from participating in feasible early intervention strategies can ultimately lead to worsening suicide rates and is working to alleviate this public health crisis.鈥�

Presentations

Elizabeth Speakman, senior associate dean of the聽School of Nursing聽in the聽College of Health Sciences, recently represented Delaware at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing鈥檚聽Hill Day聽in Washington, D.C. During her visit to Capitol Hill on Oct. 30, Speakman met with Delaware鈥檚 legislators and advocated for the top issues impacting academic nursing.

鈥淚t is always a great opportunity to meet with legislators and discuss the pressing issues in nursing, especially since the nurse and nurse faculty shortage are paramount concerns for all of us,鈥� Speakman said. 鈥淎s the appointed American Academy of Nursing State Grassroots Liaison in Delaware, it was important that I spend time asking our Delaware legislators to support bipartisan bills that will increase funding for research, nursing education and nursing practice.鈥�

Senem Cevik听补苍诲听Jazzlyn Jones, medical sciences doctoral students, presented their research at the 20th International Symposium on Retinal Degeneration and BrightFocus Macular Fast Track Workshop in Torremolinos, Spain, in October. Cevik and Jones work closely with聽Esther Biswas-Fiss, chair of the聽Department of Medical and Molecular Sciences聽in the聽College of Health Sciences, on her research on the ABCA4 gene and its thousands of genetic variants. The gene is the leading cause of a rare genetic eye disease, Stargardt disease, which often results in blindness.

Both Cevik and Jones found value in the experience.

鈥淪eeing other鈥檚 research helps me think outside the box, and when they ask me questions about my research, it helps me think about different perspectives and teaches me how to better communicate my research to others,鈥� Cevik said.

鈥淭his conference showed me that I have a lifetime of working in this field to look forward to, and it motivated me to want to grind a lot harder and make the most of my education,鈥� Jones said.

Sharon Dudley-Brown,听Beatrice Gaynor听补苍诲听Caren Coffy-McCormick聽鈥� all in the College of Health Science鈥檚 School of Nursing 鈥� presented at the Fall Continuing Education (CE) Conference hosted by the Delaware Coalition of Nurse Practitioners (DCNP) on Saturday, Oct. 28. The DCNP is a nurse practitioner organization affiliated with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, which certifies both family nurse practitioners and adult geriatric nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners are required to take 100 CE hours every five years, with 25 of them being in advanced pharmacology. The conference provided seven CE hours, most of which were in pharmacology. Dudley-Brown led a presentation regarding pharmacology and its tie-in to inflammatory bowel disease. Gaynor spoke about pharmacology and the nurse practitioner role in medical aesthetics. Coffy-McCormick provided updates on antipsychotics and bipolar disorder. The conference was designed to encourage nurse practitioners and nurse practitioner students to think deeply when prescribing medicine, ensuring the best quality of care for their patients.聽

鈥淭his is a unique focus for a conference that provides an update on pharmacology within nurse practitioners' unique fields of practice,鈥� Gaynor said. 鈥淣urse practitioners focus on the whole patient, while this conference will spotlight opportunities to strategically factor in pharmacology further when addressing the needs of patients.鈥澛�

Mary Webb, a second-year student in the聽Nutrition Science PhD Program聽in the聽College of Health Sciences, won an Early Career Lightning Talk Competition at the 2023聽conference held in Dallas, Texas, in October. Webb, who鈥檚 working alongside聽Melissa Melough, assistant professor of health behavior and nutrition sciences, explained their research focuses on environmental chemicals known as phthalates and their impact on obesity and cardiometabolic health. In examining the connection between phthalates and body fat, they determined some phthalates are associated with higher body fat percentages and more fat around internal organs in adolescent boys and adult women and men. Next, they鈥檒l explore the associations between exposure to these chemicals during pregnancy and early childhood obesity.

鈥淚 am honored and grateful to have won the Early Career Lightning Talk Competition at the annual ObesityWeek conference,鈥� Webb said. 鈥淭his was an amazing event that provided me with the opportunity to effectively communicate my research to an audience in three minutes. I am encouraged and excited by the interest and enthusiasm the audience showed towards the important work I鈥檓 completing with Dr. Melough.鈥�

Other authors on the poster presentation included聽Jillian Trabulsi, associate professor and chair of the聽Department of Health Behavior and Nutrition Sciences;听Jee Won Park, assistant professor in the聽Epidemiology Program, and Drew Day, epidemiologist at Seattle Children's Research Institute.

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Chloe Rogers, a nutrition and dietetics major who graduated in May, and Carly Pacanowski, associate professor of health behavior and nutrition sciences in the College of Health Sciences, recently published a scoping review, 鈥淭he Relationship Between Cannabis and Anorexia Nervosa,鈥� in the Journal of Eating Disorders. Their review of studies involving human participants explored the endocannabinoid system (ECS), the effects of cannabinoid treatment, and the harms of cannabis use in Anorexia Nervosa (AN). While the evidence is limited, their review found that due to abnormalities in the ECS in individuals with AN, cannabis could be a potential treatment for weight restoration and associated symptoms. Rogers and Pacanowski recommended future research examine individualized dosing approaches of cannabis in individuals with AN to maximize benefits and minimize harm.聽 聽聽

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