Structural Racism and Inequitable Pediatric Diabetes Care
Data show racial disparities in type 1 diabetes treatment and outcomes in non-Hispanic Black (NHB) children in the US. NHB children are less likely to be treated with diabetes technology, have poorer glycemic control and higher rates of diabetes complications and diabetes-related mortality than non-Hispanic white children. There is much to be done to ensure equitable care, but as yet, structural racism has not been a focus.
National Society Honors Three Penn Nursing Professors
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the country’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging — is honoring three Penn Nursing Professors with awards for their outstanding research, distinguished leadership in teaching and service, and for fostering new ideas in gerontological science.
Ann Lawrence O’Sullivan, PhD, FAAN, CRNP, Transitions from Standing Faculty at Penn Nursing After 48 Years of Service
Ann Lawrence O’Sullivan, PhD, FAAN, CRNP, the Dr. Hildegarde Reynolds Endowed Term Professor of Primary Care Nursing and Professor of Primary Care Nursing, Perelman School of Medicine, will be transitioning in just a few days on June 30, 2021 after an incredible 48 years(!) of service to the University and School. She will continue to mentor and support our DNP students.
Dolores Albarracín Appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor
President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett today announced the appointment of Dolores Albarracín as the University of Pennsylvania’s twenty-eighth Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor, beginning July 1, 2021. Albarracín, a world-renowned social psychologist, will be the Alexandra Heyman Nash University Professor, with joint appointments in the Annenberg School for Communication and the Department of Family and Community Health in the School of Nursing.
Design Thinking Results in Innovative Clinical Pathway
Despite national efforts to reduce health care disparities, medically complex and socially at-risk patients continue to experience relatively poor outcomes during and after hospitalization, including frequent readmissions and preventable emergency department (ED) visits. New research shows that design thinking, an approach typically used in engineering and business, has merit in helping nurses and other health care providers develop clinical pathways to improve care transitions for socially at-risk patients.
Advocating Reimbursement Parity for Nurse Practitioners
The current Medicare reimbursement policy for nurse practitioners (NPs) allows NPs to directly bill Medicare for services that they perform, but they are reimbursed at only 85% of the physician rate. A growing number of states are granting full practice authority to nurse practitioners. Even more states have loosened practice restrictions due to COVID-19. Both of these reasons illustrate why payment parity is essential.
International Award for Penn Nursing Professor
The International Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses (ISPN) recently awarded Penn Nursing’s Bridgette M. Brawner, PhD, MDiv, APRN, Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Health, its Diversity and Equity Award. The award was presented during the ISPN 23rd Annual Virtual Conference on March 24. Brawner will present the Diversity/Equity lecture at next year’s conference.
Policy Recommendations to End the Opioid and Overdose Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened an existing drug overdose crisis that claimed the lives of more than 81,000 people in the U.S. from May 2019-June 2020. Penn Nursing’s Peggy Compton, PhD, RN, FAAN, van Ameringen Chair in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing and Professor in the Department of Family and Community Health, and Shoshana Aronowitz, PhD, CRNP, a Fellow of the National Clinician Scholars Program, are co-authors on a recent policy brief from the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics Opioid Working Group that provides evidence-based recommendations for the government to consider in its response.
ASPEN Fellowship for Penn Nursing Professor
Sharon Y. Irving, PhD, CRNP, FCCM, FAAN, Associate Professor of Pediatric Nursing and Vice-Chair of Penn Nursing’s Department of Family and Community Health, has been named a 2021 Fellow of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN). She is one of 29 selected for the Class of 2021, which was announced March 20 during ASPEN’s 2021 Virtual Nutrition Science & Practice Conference.
Doulas Help Families Meet Breastfeeding Goals
Research from the School of Nursing shows that these support professionals can be another tool to improve outcomes for newborns and parents.
Congratulations to the 2021 Penn Nursing Faculty Award Recipients
All the honorees will be recognized during our virtual, end of the year event on Thursday, May 27, 2021 3-5 PM EST.
New Appointments for Two Penn Nursing Professors
Margo Brooks-Carthon, PhD, has been named the Tyson Family Endowed Term Chair for Gerontological Research; and Heath Schmidt, PhD, has been named the Killebrew-Censits Chair in Undergraduate Education. Both appointments are effective July 1, 2021.
Penn Nursing Professor Offers Congressional Testimony on COVID Vaccine Hesitancy
Testifying before the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology about the grim challenge of COVID vaccine hesitancy, Penn Nursing’s Alison Buttenheim, PhD, MBA, the Patricia Bleznak Silverstein and Howard A. Silverstein Term Endowed Professorship in Global Women’s Health, called on Committee members to recognize and exploit the power of “fun and delight” in public service ad campaigns designed to change hesitators’ vaccine perceptions.
Promoting and Protecting Human Milk and Breastfeeding During COVID-19
With stressors mounting daily on the health care system due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a de-prioritization of the childbearing family has been noted. Their care has changed, resulting in mothers forced to go through labor and birth without their partners, parents barred from NICU visitation, and discharge of mothers and newborns early without enough expert lactation care. There is great concern that these changes in childbearing families’ care may become permanent – to the detriment of the health of both mother and child.
Children, the Pandemic, and Long-term Mental Health Consequences
New work from Penn Nursing and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia describes the importance of recognizing COVID-19’s psychological effects on young people and the pivotal role pediatric nurses in all settings can play.
National Honor for Penn Nursing Professor
The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) has awarded Martha Curley, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Ruth M. Colket Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing and Professor of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), the 2021 Drs. Vidyasagar and Nagamani Dharmapuri Award for Excellence in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. This annual award recognizes an individual for sustained exemplary and pioneering achievement in the care of critically ill and injured infants and children. It was presented virtually during the American College of Critical Care Medicine Convocation/Society of Critical Care Medicine Awards on Friday, February 5, 2021. Curley is the first woman and nurse to receive this award.
Addressing Breastfeeding Disparities for African American Mothers
An abundance of data underscore the importance of breastfeeding and human milk for the optimal health of infants, children, mothers, and society. But while breastfeeding initiation rates have increased to more than 80% in the U.S., a disparity exists for African American mothers and infants. In this group, breastfeeding is initiated only about 69% of the time.
Nearly Half of Young Drivers Are Resuming Driving Just Weeks After Sustaining a Concussion
Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) found that nearly half of adolescents who sought specialty care for a concussion were back to driving when asked approximately two weeks after the injury, even though few had returned to exercise and sports.
Behavioral Strategies to Promote a National COVID-19 Vaccine Program
National efforts to develop a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine at “warp speed” will likely yield a safe and effective vaccine by early 2021. However, this important milestone is only the first step in an equally important challenge: getting a majority of the U.S. public vaccinated.
Increasing HPV Vaccine Uptake in Adolescents
More than 90 percent of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers could be prevented by widespread uptake of the HPV vaccine. Yet, vaccine use in the United States falls short of public health goals.
Racial Disparities in Pediatric Diabetes Treatment
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is the third most common pediatric chronic disease in the United States, and the risk of the disease has risen sharply in non-Hispanic Black (NHB) children in the last 20 years, data show. Ironically, the significant advances in T1D therapeutics over recent years, especially new technologies, may have exacerbated racial disparities in diabetes treatment and outcomes.
How the Pandemic Disrupts Breastfeeding Experiences
The COVID-19 pandemic and the implications of physical distancing have disrupted new mothers’ birth and breastfeeding experiences even if they are not COVID-19 positive or a person awaiting results. In a new case series report from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), researchers share common concerns and experiences as reported by three first-time, healthy mothers regarding the disruption of their birth plans and breastfeeding experiences.
Community Immersion as Distance Learning
Community immersion classes are central to teaching nursing students about social determinants of health. But what happens when on-site engagement is suspended due to a pandemic?
Penn Nursing’s Maria Torchia LoGrippo is a 2020 NLN Academy of Nursing Education Fellow
The National League for Nursing Academy of Nursing Education fosters excellence in nursing education by recognizing and capitalizing on the wisdom of outstanding individuals in and outside the profession who have contributed to nursing education in sustained and significant ways.
15-Year Trend Persists in Disparate Insulin Pump Use in Children
Insulin pumps are widely used in the management of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and reviews have shown insulin pump therapy to be associated with improved glycemic control, fewer severe hypoglycemia events, and improved quality of life. Yet, non-Hispanic white children (NHW) are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic Black children (NHB) to use this technology.
Ensuring an Ethical Path to a ‘Warp Speed’ Vaccine
Penn scholars, including Penn Nursing’s Alison Buttenheim, PhD, consider the ethical implications of the development and allocation of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Preparing Future Clinicians to Intervene in Opioid Crisis
Opioid use disorder and overdose have reached unprecedented levels around the world. In the United States, remediation of pain is one of the most common reasons American adults seek healthcare. Therefore, it is vital that clinicians practicing in diverse roles and settings have a clinical understanding of pain and substance use disorders as well as knowledge about public health and opioid policy interventions.
State Laws Key to HIV Prevention Efforts
HIV prevention remains a public health priority in the United States. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a drug regimen recommended for individuals who have engaged in behaviors that place them at elevated risk for HIV. When used consistently, daily oral PrEP has been shown to reduce HIV transmission by 99 percent. However, despite increases in PrEP awareness and uptake over the past several years, data show that four of five people who could benefit from PrEP did not access the medication in 2018.
Helping Teens with Type 1 Diabetes Improve Diabetes Control with MyDiaText
Adolescence is a difficult period of development, made more complex for those with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The challenges of managing multiple doses of daily insulin administration, blood glucose monitoring, dietary and exercise requirements, can make self-care difficult and complicate outcomes. Adolescents with T1DM often have poorer diabetes outcomes than others, indicating that glucose control is difficult for them to maintain.
New Director of Penn Nursing’s Center for Global Women’s Health
Holly Harner, PhD, has been appointed the Afaf I. Meleis Director of the Center for Global Women’s Health (CGWH). She recently joined Penn Nursing as a Practice Professor of Women’s Health in the Department of Family and Community Health. Harner has a national reputation as a leading clinician, educator, and champion of women’s health, with a long-standing commitment to improving the health status of vulnerable women.
Penn Nursing’s Alison Buttenheim, PhD, MBA, Appointed to NAM COVID Vaccine Committee
The goal of the ad hoc committee on Equitable Allocation of Vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus is to develop an overarching framework for vaccine allocation to assist policymakers in the domestic and global health communities in planning for equitable allocation of vaccines against COVID-19.
LGBTQ Data Added to the Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 Testing
Governor Tom Wolf announced on March 13 that the state will include LGBTQ-specific information as part of its COVID-19 data collection. Pennsylvania Department of Health began collecting race and ethnicity data after racial disparities were revealed during the pandemic. It has expanded the effort to include sexual orientation and gender identity.