Technology-Escapades

Greatly successful conferences don’t take place by chance. It’s only with the long-range planning and intensive efforts of a local committee that conferences can be as wildly successful as was the 23rd Annual Southern Nursing Research Society conference held in February, 2009 in Baltimore, MD.

We had the opportunity to talk with Kathryn Lothschuetz Montgomery, PhD, RN, CNAA who served as the chair of the Local Program Committee that planned and executed the 2009 conference. Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Turner-Henson spoke about:

It takes teamwork and effort to make this conference possible.

Kudos to the Local Program Committee for all their efforts.

This 2009 conference had more networking, which was a response to recommendations from last year’s conference (fill out those evaluations!).

Having Dr. Patricia Grady, of the National Institute of Nursing Research, and many of the program officers here was a fantastic opportunity. Dr. Grady is an alum of University of Maryland.

The mid-career scientist plenary with Drs. Allen and Walker was a way to mentor the next generation of leaders and to help researchers see how to open doors.

Dr Montgomery noted:

It was a long and productive year for the LPC as we strived to make this a fun and informative meeting for everyone.

Attendees agreed that the LPC exceeded their goal!

Watch this brief video for more details:

Thanks to members of the Local Program Committee for their work in making the conference a reality:

From Towson University:

• Jacquelyn Jordan, PhD, RN, Professor & Chair
• Judy Breitenbach, MS, RN, Nursing Programs Director
• Kathi L. Pendleton, MS, RN, BC, Clinical Associate Professor

From The Catholic University of America:

• Nalini Jairath, PhD, RN, Dean & Associate Professor

From West Virginia University:

• Georgia L. Narsavage, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, Dean & Professor
• Susan McCrone, PhD, APRN, BC, Professor & Chair

From Johns Hopkins University:

• Hae-Ra Han, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor
• Hayley Mark, PhD, MPH, RN, Assistant Professor

From University of Maryland:

• Kathryn Lothschuetz Montgomery, PhD, RN, Associate Dean & Assistant Professor, Chair of LPC
• Carolyn J. Yocom, PhD, RN, FAAN, Chair & Associate Professor
• Lyn Stankiewicz Murphy, PhD, MBA, MS, RN, Director of Professional Development & Assistant Professor
• Barbara A. Smith, PhD, RN, FACSM, FAAN, Associate Dean for Research & Professor

The Southern Nursing Research Society’s 2009 Distinguished Researcher was Barbara Smith, PhD, RN, FACSM, FAAN. A Professor and Associate Dean for Research in the School of Nursing at the University of Maryland, Dr. Smith provided a stimulating overview of her research trajectory during her address to conference attendees on Friday, February 13, 2009. Seems that she kept thinking she’d return to conducting cardiovascular research … and, instead, she’s had a hugely successful program of research focused on HIV/AIDS.

SNRS Vice President, Anne Turner-Henson, DSN, RN, conducted a person on the street interview with Dr. Smith just before the conference’s closing plenary. Dr. Smith shared her perspective on a few things.

On the importance of the Southern Nursing Research Society:

I’ve been a member of SNRS for more than 10 years. It’s always stimulating and exciting to come to these conferences.

On some of the important findings from her program of research:

The population of persons living with HIV/AIDS is getting older. The disease is becoming chronic. We need the expertise of all levels and types of nurses to provide care for this population. The most important thing is to help persons with HIV/AIDS stay on their medications.

On her 4 tips for a successful research career:

1. Be serious about your profession. It’s a lifelong learning experience.

2. Develop your own spiritual base, whatever that is.

3. Have love and concern for your fellow man.

4. … watch the brief video below to get the 4th tip …

Dr. Smith not only knew the Longhorn sign, she also called out Hook ‘em ‘horns! What a great segueway to providing a call to our 2010 conference!

Join us February 2-6, 2010

in Austin, TX

for the 24th Annual SNRS Conference

Health Care Challenges of the Next Decade

See you there, Dr. Smith!

Mona Patterson was another of the students we recruited to do a talking poster session at the 23rd Annual Conference of the Southern Nursing Research Society, held in Baltimore, MD from February 10-14, 2009. Mona is a PhD candidate at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, just in the process of formalizing her dissertation proposal.

Mona’s poster was entitled A Qualitative Study of Nursing & Nursing Education in Ghana. The poster reported her ethnographic research that was conducted in Ghana in Spring 2008. In this research study, she examined the Ghana, Professional, and Institutional contexts within Ghana that affect nursing practice and nursing education in the country of Ghana.

Here is Mona describing her research and findings:

Here’s a link to a PDF version of Mona’s poster. If you’d like to talk further with her about her program of research, email her at rpatte16 at utmem.edu.

On the last day of the 23rd Annual Southern Nursing Research Society Conference, held in Baltimore, MD, we gathered a small group of students to talk with them about their experiences at the conference and their thoughts on the importance of attending SNRS conferences. These were some fabulous young folks. They cut to the chase and clearly articulated important thoughts for others.

Our participants included:

• Mary Louise Ward, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
• Jo Dowell, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Brendan Zahn, University of Kentucky
• Liw Villagomeza, University of South Florida

Oh, and Anne Turner-Henson doing her best impression of Meredith Viera!

Mary Louise & Brendan were first time attendees, while Jo & Liw were attending their 3rd conference. They described what they gained from attending the 2009 conference. It’s a springboard into my dissertation and research, according to Mary Louise. I meet colleagues in my expertise area, noted Jo, while Liw commented that the closing plenary pointed out how we, as nurses, must be more focused on looking at economics.

Anne Turner-Henson asked each of them to give a bit of advice for other students in relation to attending SNRS conferences:

I highly encourage them to come. Every time I attend I pick up something new and exciting. Liw

It’s amazing how many years of experience have been packed into these 3 days. Brendan

It’s like those immersion tapes you get at the library where you live it. I’ve learned so much. I met people I’ve read, theorists and others. Mary Louise

I’ve learned quite a bit. Every time I come I learn new, inspiring information. Jo

These students are representative of the students that attend our Southern Nursing Research Society Conferences. They are bright, articulate, intelligent, and excited about what they will contribute to nursing science and nursing research. We left our conference with the knowledge that our future is in great hands!

We hope you will join us at the 24th Annual Southern Nursing Research Society Conference that will be held February 2-6, 2010 at the Hilton Austin in Austin, TX. Check our website for regular updates.

Our very first “recruit” to being in front of the camera with Dr. Anne Turner-Henson at the closing of the 23rd Annual Southern Nursing Research (SNRS) Conference was Dr. Marge Miles. Marge and Anne share a special bond – pediatrics and child health – and you could really sense that bond during this brief conversation.

Dr. Miles is a long-time member of SNRS, going back more than 20 years. Currently a Research Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Miles provides a strong voice that calls for our senior scientists to participate in SNRS. View Dr. Miles’ faculty page here.

It’s important that senior scientists mentor others, noted Dr. Miles. In fact, Dr. Miles was so in demand as a mentor at this conference that she found I can’t get away to check out! She spoke of instances where she gave conference attendees ideas, maybe 2 years ago. Then they come up to me and say ‘your ideas were so helpful. I did this, and I did that, based on your feedback.’

Dr. Turner-Henson commented on the methodological pre-conference on developmental science that involved Dr. Miles. The pre-conference was well-attended and Dr. Miles commented on the importance of coming back and giving to the doctoral students.

Austin is a great city, noted Dr. Miles; one where you can walk along the water. And the music’s fabulous.

What a great call to our 24th Annual SNRS conference, scheduled for February 2-6, 2010 in the Hilton Austin in Austin, TX. Visit our website for more details! Plan to submit an abstract for a podium, symposium, or poster presentation and join our senior scientists at this important conference.

While wandering through the poster session on the last day of the 23rd Annual Southern Nursing Research Society (SNRS) Conference that was held in Baltimore, MD, we happened upon Rachel Klimmek. Rachel is a first year doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University and is she ever a fabulous young woman who gives us hope for the future of nursing science!

Rachel was presenting her poster entitled Culturally Competent Systematic Review: Palliative Care Research In Developing Countries. She started this project the summer before she began her doctoral studies – a keener! (click here for a definition of keener)

Rachel noted that palliative care research has not kept up in developing countries, which is of concern, given the needs for palliative care in these countries. Along with her co-authors, Myrna A. A. Doumit, PhD, RN of the American University of Beirut School of Nursing in Lebanon; Busiswe M. Kunene, MS, RN of Johns Hopkins University and the Nursing University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa; Fabiniana Souza, PhD, RN of FioCruz, Ministry of Health in Brazil; and Marie T. Nolan, PhD, MPH, RN of Johns Hopkins University, Rachel conducted a systematic review of palliative care research literature in developing countries.

The poster presented at SNRS had only the information from the review of articles indexed in PubMed which, after limits were applied, yielded a total of 17 articles. The team used Meleis’ framework for evaluating cultural competency in scholarship and prepared a poster that highlighted their findings. You can access a PDF version of the poster here.

As the videographer, I learned a new term from Rachel – helicopter studies. Researchers that conduct helicopter studies drop in, don’t leave a lot behind in the way of resources or information, and get back out. It is important for researchers to cultivate sustainable, long-term efforts with co-researchers from developing countries and avoid helicoptering.

Rachel also provided a great call to next year’s student poster submissions:

Participating in this year’s SNRS conference was a great experience.  The comments and feedback I received during the poster session also assisted me to think critically about our project and gave me plenty of ideas on ways to improve the work we’ve started and reconceptualize some of our strategies.

Thanks, Rachel, for allowing us to videotape you and post a link to your poster! It sounds as if the conference was a success for you and our conference was enriched by your participation!

The Southern Nursing Research Society (SNRS) 2007 Dissertation Award Recipient was Frankie Ballard of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Ms. Ballard’s grant was titled Homeless Shelter Women’s Health Promotion Behaviors. At the SNRS 2009 conference held in Baltimore, MD in February 2009, Ms. Ballard spoke briefly about the importance of the dissertation award in supporting her research. See her video here:

Ms. Ballard is defending her dissertation in the next few weeks and the SNRS membership wish her well! We are looking forward to her continued participation in our conferences and, one day, to her stature as a “senior scientist.”

Frankie Ballard receives the 2007 SNRS Dissertation Grant from SNRS President Patty Gray

While at the 2009 Southern Nursing Research Conference, we did 3 talking poster sessions with some of the students who were displaying their posters. We first stopped and talked with Ms. Heather Carter-Templeton, the Project Coordinator of the Individualized Information Literacy Project who was displaying a poster entitled Using Evidence to Teach Information Technology and Information Literacy: A Multidisciplinary Approach.

The Individualized Information Literacy Project, otherwise known as Learning Information Seeking and Technology for Evidence-based Nursing practice (LISTEN), is a HRSA-funded project that aims to improve the information literacy, information technology, and nursing informatics competencies of students, faculty, and workforce nurses. Check out the project’s website.

Here’s a brief interview with Heather as she describes her poster:

Here’s a link to Heather’s poster in PDF format. Make sure and get in touch with her at hcartert @ utmem.edu if you have questions about the poster or the LISTEN project.