Research Programs
21st Century Health Service Model
The long range goal of this project, spearheaded by Dr. Pamela Clarke, is to implement a model of care for community-based interdisciplinary clinical interventions that will enhance health outcomes for chronically ill rural persons. The new service model, a theory-based practice model, is an integrative, person-centered approach to the care of persons living with chronic conditions and is suitable for use in a variety of settings. The rationale for this project is that chronically ill persons who become more engaged in their own care will have positive outcomes in relation to their illnesses, leading to both a better quality of life and more efficient use of health care services.
Chronic Illness
Funded by Center for Research on Chronic Health Conditions in Rural Dwellers
Dr. Sharon Cumbie’s theoretical work on resistance and engagement process with persons living with chronic mental illness is foundational to the collaborative development of a client-centered process engagement model for initiating and sustaining health behavior change. The model is being evaluated in the study, Nursing care model for chronically rural dwellers. The Co-investigators for the study include: Dr. Mary Burman, and Dr. Virginia Conley, UW School of Nursing; and, Dr. Clarann Weinert, Montana State University.
Cooperative Community Action
Funded by the UW College of Health Sciences and the Wyoming Council for the Arts
The Cooperative Community Action Project (June 1999-May 2001), initiated by Dr. Sharon Cumbie, developed an interactive campus-community partnership model that brought together diverse community members in a process of co-operation and collaboration with two underserved populations in Wyoming: the chronically mentally ill and senior citizens. The purpose of the project was to utilize participatory action research methods to develop a collaborative community project and to explore the impact of engagement activities aimed at increasing the social functioning of those underserved populations and decreasing residual symptoms of chronic mental illness.
Developing Public Health Leaders: ADN to BSN Education
Funded by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
A School of Nursing team with Karen Ouzts as Principal Investigator is developing and implementing an innovative, locally based BSN completion program that will educate public nurse leaders for rural communities in Wyoming. The program will be piloted in western Wyoming in 2004-2006 in collaboration with Western Wyoming Community College and the communities it serves: Evanston, Green River, Rawlins, and Rock Springs. Following evaluation of outcomes and refinement, it will be extended to other community college service areas in the state.
Hepatitis C Study
Funded by a UW Grant-in-Aid
Dr. Sharon Cumbie, of the School of Nursing, with Dr. Gail Leedy, Director of Social Work, and Carol Chaffin-Page, Counselor Education, conducted the study, An Exploration of Women’s Expectations, Experience, and Management of Chemotherapy Treatment for Hepatitis C. The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of lived experiences of women undergoing chemotherapy for Hepatitis C. The study utilized a qualitative descriptive design with a phenomenological approach to explore the lived experience of women undergoing chemotherapy for Hepatitis C.
INBRE (IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence)--Clinical Science Component
Project focus: Social-Ecological Research Approach to Community Health Promotion
Funded as a clinical science component of the NIH INBRE grant to the College of Health Sciences
Geographical, environmental, sociological, and cultural elements inherent to rural populations of Wyoming often prevent its residents from benefiting from many current national health initiatives. Due to restraints related to inadequate infrastructures for the delivery of services, smaller communities often lack adequate access to health care and health promotional services. As a step in ameliorating these problems, the intention of the proposed initiative is to develop campus-community partnerships for health with underserved communities of Wyoming through the development of a multidisciplinary research and community health intervention infrastructure. The implementation of a multidisciplinary community-focused model for statewide health promotion, initiated by Dr. Sharon Cumbie who is the current Project Investigator, has the potential to make a national vision of health quality, set forth in Health People 2010, a reality to the citizens of Wyoming.
Massage Therapy Intervention for End-of-Life Care
Proposal under consideration at National Institute for Nursing Research (NINR)
Virginia Conley and Diane Kempson (Division of Social Work) are involved in an intervention study aimed at testing the feasibility and potential effectiveness of gentle massage therapy in enhancing the well-being of family caregivers’ of hospice patients and their loved ones nearing death and at positively impacting the caregivers’ quality of life.
Maternal Child Health Study
Funded through subcontract with the Center for Rural Health Research and Education (CRHRE)
and the Wyoming State Department of Health.
This needs assessment study, conducted by Dr. Sharon Cumbie and Dr. Rex Gantenbein, focuses on the specific needs of Wyoming children, women, and mothers. The information for this study was gathered in focus groups across the state composed of women, mothers, and health care professionals. This study is in the process of data analysis currently.
NCNS Models of Care
The Model for Promoting Process Engagement, in current development by Dr. Sharon Cumbie, Dr. Mary Burman, and Dr. Virginia Conley, is a patient focused approach that uses motivational strategies to facilitate individuals in their making sense of health information and sustaining health behavior change. The model assumes that persons encountering new activities or information attempt to understand and make sense of that new information in a personalized way. Through mutually derived goal setting and motivational exchange, clients are supported in their efforts to identify and sustain health behaviors.
NP Preparedness
Dr. Ann Marie Hart is conducting a study entitled Nurse Practitioners' Perceived Preparedness for Practice, which is being funded by UW's College of Health Science. With the high visibility and growing popularity of NPs, there is an ever-increasing impetus to reevaluate NP education. While the American Association of Colleges in Nursing (AACN) and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) are actively addressing the larger “entry into practice” issue, the specifics of future NP education, including its educational standards, outcomes, and competencies have not yet been developed. Furthermore, there have been no recent attempts to evaluate the adequacy of NP preparation from the view of the successful, practicing NP. In the words of Mary Jo Goolsby (2000, p. 43), "There is an urgent need to better understand the experiences and processes associated with high-quality NP education". Thus the purpose of this study is to evaluate the perceived preparedness of NPs for practice from their formal NP educational program. This study involved the administration of a written questionnaire to attendees of two large national NP conferences, including the annual NONPF meeting, which was held in San Diego, CA in April 2004 and the 29th Annual NP Symposium, which was held in Keystone, CO in July 2004. Between these two conferences, approximately 500 surveys were completed and returned, and Dr. Hart is in the process of analyzing these now.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
The scholarship of teaching and learning is the systematic examination of teaching and learning with the results of that examination made public. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning can include work in the following areas: classroom research, program research, assessment in a discipline, research on teaching and learning in out-of-class experiences, and reflections on teaching and learning such as a course portfolio or performance.
Rural Multi-Site Research
Testing Protocols for Rural Sample Data Collection
Funded by the Center for Research on Chronic Conditions in Rural Dwellers (CRCHC)
This study is currently being conducted by a team of researchers from University of Wyoming (Mary Beth Stepans, Nursing, and Derek Smith, Kinesiology and Health) and University of Nebraska Medical Center (Kim Rodehorst and Susan Wilhelm, Nursing). The long-range goal of their collaborative effort is to develop an intervention to decrease the negative outcomes of asthma in children. The immediate goal of this pilot project is to develop and test protocols for rural, multi-site research that will prove useful in monitoring biomarkers and aeroallergens that reflect the inflammatory response of the respiratory system of babies between 12 and 18 months of age.
Smoking Hygiene: Reducing Infant Exposure to Tobacco
Proposal under consideration at National Institutes of Health (NIH)
This study is part of ongoing work in infant exposure to tobacco by Mary Beth Stepans and her colleagues from the University of Nebraska Medical College, Melody Hertzog, Kim Rodehorst, and Susan Wilhelm. Its primary aim is to compare the outcomes of the combined interventions “Smoking Hygiene” and “Motivational Interviewing” and the outcomes of usual care of smoking breastfeeding mothers and their infants. The study will also assess the feasibility of collecting the necessary data at multiple rural sites.
State Planning Grant
Dr. Mary Burman worked on The State Planning Grant which was aimed at developing a strategic plan for increasing access to uninsured persons in Wyoming. This project aimed at extending our understanding of what it is like to be uninsured based on the experiences of Downtown Clinic clients and people from throughout the entire state. Focus groups and interviews were done with uninsured persons, small employers and health care professionals around the State of Wyoming to learn more about the impact of being uninsured. This study provided much needed statewide data on the uninsured for health policy formation. The Department of Health contracted with the University of Wyoming to conduct a Wyoming Household Insurance Survey and to work with the Department of Employment on employer surveys. The study was completed in October 2003. A State Planning Grant Task Force was established to guide the planning process and to produce a strategic plan which was delivered to the Governor and the Legislature in December 2003. The Department of Health received a supplemental grant from HRSA in 2003 that will be used to support additional studies which will be contracted through the Wyoming Health Care Commission to continue to explore options to provide increased coverage for all Wyoming citizens.
Visit the State Planning Grant website
URI Management
Funded by a UW Grant-in-Aid
Drs. Ann Marie Hart and Tonja Woods (Pharmacy) are conducting a study entitled The Roles of Pharmacists and Nurses in the Management of Upper Respiratory Infections (URIs) to explore the roles of pharmacists and nurses in URI management. The study is being funded by the UW Grant in Aid seed monies. It aims to:
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1. describe the formal and informal counseling/teaching these professionals provide to persons with URI symptoms;
2. determine the perceived impact of this counseling/teaching on the recipients;
3. assess the concerns held by these professionals regarding URI counseling/education; and
4. assess the educational needs of these professionals regarding URI counseling/teaching.
The study will employ a qualitative descriptive design using focus groups of pharmacists and nurses in Laramie, WY. Transcriptions of the focus groups will be analyzed for general themes related to each aim. The significance of this study lies in its potential contributions toward solving the current antibiotic resistance crisis. Understanding the roles that pharmacists and nurses play in the management of URIs is critical to efforts to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use and to preserve antibiotics for future generations. Knowledge gained from this multidisciplinary study will be used to inform future efforts to educate pharmacists and nurses about appropriate use of antibiotics for URIs.
WY APN Study
Funded by the UW College of Health Sciences
Drs. Julie Brown and Ann Marie Hart are conducting a study entitled A Day in the Life of APNs in Wyoming, which received funding from UW's College of Health Sciences. The purpose of this study is to document the impact of APN practice in the state of Wyoming. They plan to use this information to accurately describe the work of Wyoming’s APNs and demonstrate that it is essential to the health and well being of the people of Wyoming. The study will utilize the same survey items administered by Swartz et al. (2003) in their study, “A Day in the Lives of APNs in the U.S.”, along with additional items specific to the practice of nursing in the rural state of Wyoming.
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Fay W. Whitney
School of Nursing
WY Public Health Summer Institute
Sigma Theta Tau, Alpha Pi Chapter
Fay W. Whitney
School of Nursing - NCNS
Dept 3065
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071
phone: (307)766-6821
fax: (307)766-4294
e-mail: ncns@uwyo.edu
