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.
Social Distancing and Dying Alone
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to drastic changes in how hospitals provide end-of-life care to patients and their families. With strict no-visiting limitations in place in an effort to stem contagion, patients have been dying alone.
School Nurses Key to Safe School Reopening
Sudden school closures in the United States were undertaken to reduce COVID-19 transmission this spring. Those closures were not typical, and how and when schools reopen will create a set of new norms, with unique stressors for students, families, school personnel, and communities.
The Case Against Separating Breastfeeding Mothers and Infants During the Pandemic
In a Q&A, Penn Nursing’s Diane Spatz, PhD, Professor of Perinatal Nursing and the Helen M. Shearer Term Professor of Nutrition in the Department of Family and Community Health, discusses why it’s safe and beneficial to keep them together, even when the mother tests positive for COVID-19.
Congratulations to the 2020 Penn Nursing Faculty Award Recipients
All the honorees will be recognized during a virtual, end-of-the-year event that is being planned. Details on that to come.
Penn Nursing Podcast Special: COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic grows across the US, Penn Nursing’s Alison Buttenheim, PhD, a public health researcher and behavioral epidemiologist and Penn Medicine’s Carolyn Cannuscio, ScD, a social epidemiologist, join Amplify Nursing to discuss the coronavirus – what we need to know, what we need to do to help lessen the spread, and what we should expect in the days and weeks to come. Listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Compton Selected for Induction to the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame
Penn Nursing’s Peggy Compton, PhD, RN, FAAN, the van Ameringen Chair in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Health, will be honored by Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) for her contributions to the nursing profession during the 31st International Nursing Research Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, July 23-27, 2020.
Improved Work Environments Enhance Patient and Nurse Satisfaction
Healthcare provider burnout is a mounting public health crisis with up to half of all physicians and one in three nurses reporting high burnout, data show. Burnout rates among nurses also correlate with lower patient satisfaction. While both factors are recognized, little is known about how effective interventions in nurse working conditions, managerial support, or resource enhancement can lessen burnout and improve patient satisfaction.
For Babies with Congenital Heart Disease, Skin-to-skin Contact Proves Safe and Beneficial
Research from Penn Nursing and CHOP argues that for this population, “kangaroo care” can and should become routine.
PA School Nurses on the Frontlines of the Opioid Epidemic
As opioid overdoses continue to grab headlines, more states are providing their communities with easier access to naloxone, which can prevent death by reversing opioid overdoses. But while naloxone may be available at township buildings, libraries, or other community locations, little is known about how schools maintain a supply and use naloxone to prepare for treating overdose.
New Chair of Penn Nursing’s Department of Family and Community Health
José A. Bauermeister, PhD, MPH, Presidential Professor of Nursing, will be the next Chair of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing’s (Penn Nursing) Department of Family and Community Health, effective July 1, 2020.
Philadelphia Foundation Grants $100,000 to Penn Nursing From Robert I. Jacobs Fund for HIV Prevention Study
Penn Nursing has received a $100,000 grant from the Robert I. Jacobs Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation for HIV research. The grant supports an investigation, “Youth-driven Perspectives in HIV Biomedical Prevention and Cure Research,” led by José A. Bauermeister, PhD, MPH, Presidential Professor of Nursing.
Testing HIV Testers
A team led by Penn Nursing’s José A. Bauermeister, PhD, MPH, Presidential Professor of Nursing, developed an innovative study that employs a mystery shopper methodology to assess HIV testing services for young men who have sex with men.
Initiating Breastfeeding in Vulnerable Infants
The benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child are well-recognized, including for late preterm infants (LPI). But because LPI do not have fully developed brains, they may experience difficulties latching and/or sustaining a latch on the breast to have milk transfer occur. This means that these infants are at high risk for formula supplementation and/or discontinuation of breastfeeding. Without human milk, these infants lose a critical component for protection and optimal development of their brains.
How to Successfully Recruit Minority Adolescents for STI/HIV Prevention Research
Disparities in rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV between Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino adolescents and their white counterparts are well documented. Culturally and developmentally appropriate efforts targeted to help these youth establish healthy practices to lower their risk of sexually transmitted infections are warranted. However, such interventions present unique challenges in recruiting and retaining research participants.
American Academy of Nursing Announces New Fellows
Eight nursing professionals with ties to Penn Nursing will be inducted as 2019 Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). Two are current Penn employees and alumnae; one being a current faculty member; and the other being a program director at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center. The additional six are Penn Nursing alumni.
Flores Selected for National Workshop
The Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science (Council) has selected Penn Nursing’s Dalmacio Dennis Flores, PhD, ACRN, Assistant Professor, as one of six early career nurse scientists to participate in the 2019 Duck-Hee Kang Memorial Mentored Workshop. The competitively chosen group of postdoctoral and new faculty will receive research mentoring from senior nurse scientists during a one-day workshop on October 22, 2019 in Washington, DC.