June 01, 2020

The Schweitzer Fellows Program supports and trains emerging health-focused graduate and professional students in creating and carrying out service projects to address unmet community needs. The Fellows carry out an April-to-April community service project of at least 200 service hours, with at least 100 hours involving direct client contact. Fellows partner with an existing community agency in the Columbus or Athens area and have both an academic and a community-based mentor.

May 07, 2020

From inventing a medical grade protective mask to forming an interdisciplinary prone team; developing a virtual rounding tool to creating color-coded signs to improve communication. Johnson & Johnson was excited to speak with ten U.S. nurses who have developed innovative solutions in response to COVID-19.

March 30, 2020

Faculty and students continue to adapt to virtual learning across The Ohio State University. Now, faculty members in the College of Nursing are using some popular puzzles to help their undergraduate students get a virtual problem-solving experience.

May 21, 2019

Telehealth – the use of communication technologies to provide healthcare services remotely – offers both patient convenience and a promising solution to the crisis of limited healthcare access in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) across the United States. Its use is spreading widely and, at The Ohio State University College of Nursing, we teach telehealth techniques across our curriculum, both on campus and online.

April 23, 2019

A celebration of The Ohio State University that is 150 years in the making includes a new scholarship program designed to develop current students into future leaders.

December 31, 2012

At The Ohio State University, students in pharmacy, nursing, respiratory therapy, dietetics, medicine and physical therapy are learning more than just their chosen profession; they are learning to work with other healthcare professionals.

Students from these areas recently met for interprofessional simulation education. This experience was the first time for multiple disciplines to come together to learn about working as a team in a hospital setting. It was held at the College of Nursing’s Technology Learning Complex (TLC) simulation lab.

According to Lisa Rohrig, RN, BSN, director of the TLC Lab, this simulation was a chance for students to discover the expertise and capabilities of other professions. Rohrig said, “Our goal is when students go on their clinical rotations they will be more familiar with their role as part of the healthcare team in the hospital setting. I also think it really makes them aware of their need to collaborate and aids in the effective communication between different healthcare professionals. All this with the end result of better patient outcomes.”

The simulation starts with a group of interprofessional students analyzing charts followed by rounds with the patients, both live actors and human patient simulators, led by a nurse practitioner or medical student. Each student is given time to give their report, make recommendations and ask questions of the other team members. This is followed by each profession implementing their specific patient care plan. There is a second rounding session, and then it concludes with a debriefing at the end of the exercise.

Julie Legg, PharmD, assistant director of advanced pharmacy practice experiences for the College of Pharmacy, explains how the exercise is beneficial for students about to embark in a real hospital setting. “We have conducted simulations with pharmacy and nursing in the past, and the results were very positive,” said Legg. “This expanded exercise is exposing students to new vocabularies from other disciplines and teaching them the different scopes of practice.”

Students also expressed what a positive experience this was for their learning. Jessica Boyles and Andrew Richard, both doctor of pharmacy students, were two of the students who participated in the simulation.

Boyles said, “It was a great opportunity to work the other students. I was able to better identify my role as a pharmacist in the hospital setting. It gave me a lot of confidence in my job and that we are all fully and completely treating the patient.”

“The multidisciplinary approach gives us a better idea on how to interact,” added Richard. “I might do something that is similar to what another profession does, and by doing it together we can create a greater impact for the patient.”

When asked if they would recommend the experience to other students, Boyles and Richard replied in unison, “Absolutely!”

Written by Emily Keeler, director of communications for the College of Pharmacy

November 28, 2012

During their senior-level "transitions to practice" course this semester, an Ohio State College of Nursing student team collaborated on a challenge-based learning project by creating a video that highlights evidence-based practices in determining retention and satisfaction rates among newly employed nurses.

 

“This approach to problem solving is an innovative method that engages students in multidisciplinary approaches that they as new nurses in a challenging environment will face when they enter the professional workforce,” said Bonnie Kirkpatrick, MS, CNS, clinical instructor.

One team worked on a video posted on YouTube entitled “RN Avengers” to explore retention rates compared to the length of residency programs. The question they asked was whether new nursing graduates experiencing longer orientations reflect higher employer satisfaction with their job, along with a lower turnover rate. Research highlighted in the video indicated that longer orientations result in higher satisfaction and retention rates among new nurses, resulting in lower healthcare costs for healthcare organizations.

Team members included:

  • Victoria Fusner
  • Taylor Hoschar
  • Rachael Ruffin
  • Natasha Childress
  • John Payne
  • Caitlin Sepp
  • Brittany McVan

Working in groups and with experts in the healthcare environment, students gained a deeper understanding of the problems that exist in complex healthcare systems. With Kirkpatrick coaching them, the students developed real-world solutions to share with employers. They worked with educators, librarians and healthcare stakeholders in an interdisciplinary, cooperative and applied environment that mirrors the 21st century workplace.

The project was part of 2012-13 Course Enhancement Grants funds that Kirkpatrick was awarded. The video is available at go.osu.edu/pico.

October 18, 2012

Nursing students from higher education institutions throughout Ohio will converge at The Ohio State University College of Nursing on Oct. 26-27, 2012, for the Ohio Nursing Students Association (ONSA) Annual Convention.

The convention, “Ohio Nursing Students Shooting for the Stars,” is expected to attract more than 100 active nursing students to the Ohio State College of Nursing at Newton Hall.

“The ONSA Board of Directors is very excited to have the Ohio Nursing Students Annual Convention at The Ohio State University this year,” said Brandon Pachs, 2011-2012 ONSA president and a student at Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. “We are really looking forward to having the convention in central Ohio to provide a convenient location for nursing students throughout the state.”

Students will participate in a Jeopardy-style “brain bowl” competition, learn about professional organizations to join, install a new statewide board and participate in American Red Cross blood and bone marrow drives.

Keynote speakers include:

  • Usha Menon, PhD, RN, FAAN, vice dean and professor at The Ohio State University College of Nursing, who will discuss the Nurse Athlete program, passion and diversity in nursing and how nurses can take care of themselves.
  • Mary Foley PhD, RN, past president of the American Nurses Association and associate director for the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation at University of California, San Francisco, will discuss how state and national associations help student nurses “shoot for the stars” and build the future of nursing.

Breakout sessions will cover topics and issues that impact students’ education and future work, from diversity in nursing and pharmacology to graduate school and community health options.

“The various sessions and speakers at this year's convention should be very beneficial to the students, who are the future leaders of the nursing profession,” said Pachs. 

For more information about the convention, please visit ohiostudentnurses.org/convention.