News Archives • News & Events • Penn Nursing

Abramson Cancer Center Appointment

December 6 -
Karen Glanz, PhD, has been named Associate Director for Community Engaged Research and Leader for the Cancer Control Program.
Alcohol Intake May Be Key to Long-term Weight Loss for People with Diabetes

December 3 -
Research shows that losing weight can help prevent or delay the onset of diabetes. While best practice for weight loss often includes decreasing or eliminating calories from alcohol, few studies examine whether people who undergo weight loss treatment report changes in alcohol intake and whether alcohol influences their weight loss.
Penn Nursing Awarded HRSA Grants Totaling $1.4 Million

November 20 -
The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) has been awarded a total of $1.4 million in grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for a variety of projects that support nursing workforce development.
Lipman Promotes Diabetes Awareness Month at State’s Capital

November 14 -
Pennsylvania Senate Resolution 484 recognizes November 2018 as National Diabetes Month in the Keystone State
Baah Receives NINR F31 Funding

November 13 - Congratulations to doctoral student Foster Osei Baah, MS, BSN, RN for his recent National Institute of Nursing Research F31 award for his proposal “A mixed methods study to understand the relationship between social determinants of health and self-care in community dwelling patients with heart failure.”
Students and Alumni Connect at Homecoming 2018!

November 12 - This past Saturday, November 10, students, faculty, and alumni gathered on a chilly, sunny Saturday at our annual Nurse Networking Event!
New Decision Support Tool Improves Discharge Outcomes

November 7 -
In an effort to lessen readmission risk after discharge and achieve the best possible outcomes for patients, hospital-based clinicians are more intentionally planning discharge of those who require post-acute care (PAC). Yet, although hospital clinicians strive to effectively refer patients who require PAC, their discharge-planning processes often vary greatly and typically are not evidence-based.
Breaking the Cycle of Despair for People with Dementia

November 7 -
In their new book, Better Living with Dementia: Implications for Individuals, Families, Communities, and Societies, Penn Nursing’s Nancy Hodgson and Drexel’s Laura Gitlin dissect the challenge of living with the disease for individuals who have it, and for their caregivers. You can meet the authors at the book’s launch event on Wednesdy, November 28, 2018 (5 to 8 PM) in the Mitchell Auditorium on the Drexel University campus.
Patient Safety in Hospitals Still a Concern

November 5 -
Two decades ago, a landmark study by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) highlighted the prevalence of medical errors and called for a national commitment to reduce patient harm. Despite substantial investment by government and private institutions to increase patient safety, progress has been slow and uneven. A new study, published today in the November issue of the journal Health Affairs, sheds light on what more can be done.
Nursing Science Could Help Reduce Firearm Violence and Its Impact

November 2 -
Firearm violence is a significant public health problem worldwide. In the United States, firearms are used to kill almost 100 people daily. Yet despite the staggering impact of firearm violence, there is limited research directed at preventing or addressing its impact on individuals, families and communities.
Two Apps Target Cancer Risk in Marginalized Populations

November 1 -
Two tech-based mobile health interventions aim to reduce the cancer risk among women in marginalized populations. The apps, “Everhealthier Women” and “NowIKnow,” focus on preventive health actions including the HPV vaccine.
Research and Innovation Colloquium Speaker Series: Ashley Z. Ritter, PhD, MSN, CRNP

October 31 -
2019 Barbara Bates Center Fellowships Available

October 31 -
The Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania is taking applications for the 2019 Fellowships and Research Awards. Interested individuals are encouraged to apply.
Staging the Plague

October 31 -
Students training in a variety of health professions worked in interdisciplinary teams to come up with comprehensive solutions to protect public health through a simulated outbreak scenario, held in Fagin Hall and dubbed PennDemic .
New Bioethics Book First to Address Moral Distress in Healthcare

October 31 - A new book, Moral Distress in the Health Professions, by co-editors Connie Ulrich , PhD, RN, FAAN, the Lillian S. Brunner Chair in Medical and Surgical Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing), and Christine Grady, PhD, RN, FAAN, Chief of the Department of Bioethics Research at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, is the first on the market or within academia dedicated solely to moral distress among health professionals.
Meleis Honored with the Princess Srinagarindra Award from the Thailand Ministry of Public Health

October 30 -
The award is presented to an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to the nursing and/or midwifery profession, advanced the nursing profession, and contributed to the health and wellbeing of people in Thailand and around the world.
Sigma Tri-State Consortium Brunch

October 29 - Sigma Theta Tau Xi Chapter board members represented Xi Chapter while listening to and learning from nurse leaders, including Lieutenant Governor Bethany A. Hall-Long PhD, RN.
Study Examines Medical Exemptions Following California Vaccine Bill

October 29 -
The proportion of California kindergarten students who received all required vaccines at the start of school increased a year after the state eliminated nonmedical vaccine exemptions for school entry - but not without problems reported by health officers, according to a study published in the November 2018 issue of Pediatrics.
Sochalski Wins 2018 Lois Capps Policy Luminary Award

October 26 -
The annual award was created in 2009 to recognize an outstanding nursing leader for their public policy achievements.
Alison Buttenheim, PhD, Named Interim Director of CHIBE

October 23 -
Buttenheim , an Associate Professor in Penn Nursing’s Department of Family and Community Health , will take charge of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) effective in January 2019.
Article of the Year for Brawner

October 19 -
Bridgette Brawner, PhD, MDiv, APRN , Associate Professor in Penn Nursing ’s Department of Family and Community Health , has won the 2018 Richard L. Sowell Article of the Year Award from the Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC).
President’s Engagement Prize Recipient Helps Children in Mexican Orphanage Fight Infectious Disease

October 19 - Alaina Hall’s nonprofit project is a nurse-led multi-interventional health-promotion effort that aims to address the global health problem of infectious disease in children. Working in partnership with the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos orphanage in Miacatlán, Mexico, Hall will work to improve health education for children and their caregivers, strengthen infection screening and identification processes, and reduce exposure to infection-causing pathogens by providing filtered water and repairing damage to local sewage structures.
New Scholars Named to Promote Research into the Influence of Gender on Health

October 17 -
Traditionally, many health-related research projects focused only on males, assuming that females’ bodies would respond the same way to a given intervention or drug. But more often, scientists are uncovering important distinctions between men’s and women’s health, pointing to the need for dedicated attention to understand the intricacies of the differences.
The Rise of Nutrition

October 15 - Thanks to advances in genetics, biochemistry, and behavioral studies, a field long considered a secondary science is getting its due. And Penn Nursing faculty and students are taking the lead.
American Academy of Nursing Announces New Fellows

October 15 - Ten nursing professionals with ties to Penn Nursing will be inducted as 2018 Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). One is a current doctoral student and a Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholar. The other nine are Penn Nursing alumni . All of the inductees will be honored at a ceremony during the AAN’s annual policy conference, Transforming Health, Driving Policy , taking place November 1-3, 2018, in Washington, D.C.
Easing Postpartum Conversations: Students Work to Improve the Experience for Diverse Families

October 12 - Penn Nursing magazine asked KC Benchimol, Nu’14, GNu’18, GNu’19, RN, WHNP-BC, and Monika Wasik, C’12, Nu’15, GNu’18, RN-CBC, to walk us through the policy change they spearheaded across postpartum units at the University of Pennsylvania Health System—a simple change that makes it easier for all people to participate in the postpartum experience and symbolizes acceptance of LGBTQ+ parents.
An Interview with “Leader to Watch” Adriana Perez

October 10 - Adriana Perez, PhD, CRNP, ANP-BC, FAAN, interviewed by the scientific journal Nurse Leader about her career path and her vision for the nursing profession.
Three Penn Nursing Faculty Members Named LDI Senior Fellows

October 5 -
The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics recently held its sixth annual “Fall Kickoff” to welcome eighteen new Senior Fellows to its ranks, including three Penn Nursing faculty members.
Kimberly Trout, PhD, Named a Fellow in the American College of Nurse-Midwives

October 3 - Fellowship in the ACNM is an honor bestowed upon those midwives whose demonstrated leadership, clinical excellence, outstanding scholarship, and professional achievement, and have merited special recognition both within and outside of the midwifery profession.
New Best Practices Recommended for Feeding Tube Location Verification in Pediatric Patients

October 1 -
Placement of nasogastric (NG) tubes (feeding tubes) in pediatric patients is a common practice, however, the insertion procedure carries risk of serious or even potentially lethal complications. While there are numerous methods of verifying an NG tube has been placed correctly, none of those methods are considered universally standard.