School of nursing news
Building Health through Housing Sustainability
Feb 07, 2022Written by Jaime Meyers, read the original story in the Summer 2019 edition of Panacea.
It may be common sense to most health care professionals that safe, stable housing is a social determinant of health. However, supporting science is only nascent. Two UMSN faculty members are leading synergistic efforts to build the body of evidence through a series of research projects in collaboration with community and academic partners.
“Nurses not only should, but must be part of the research with homeless individuals and families,” said Barbara L. Brush, Ph.D., ANPBC, FAAN,... Read more
Healthcare's Great Communicators
Feb 07, 2022In a recent study, Assistant Professor Sheria Robinson-Lane, Ph.D., RN, MHA, and her team showed that Black COVID-19 patients received less medical follow-up, longer delays returning to work and higher rates of hospital readmissions. The findings come from the kind of research Robinson-Lane has built her career on, highlighting the health disparities faced by far too many and presenting novel solutions to improve care for the most vulnerable. With new tools and approaches she’s developed in a unique U-M faculty fellowship, Robinson-Lane is working to engage a broader audience — including... Read more
The Road to Maternal Health
Feb 07, 2022Read the original story in the Summer 2018 edition of Panacea.
Imagine labor begins and you are at home, miles away from a health facility.
Now imagine a complication. Rather than calling 911, your attendant has to send a neighbor to find your husband who is working in a field 30 minutes away, entirely unaware that you’ve gone into labor. She needs his help and permission to move you to the nearest clinic.
Upon returning to your home, your husband helps the attendant secure you in a hammock-like carrier. He handles one end and the neighbor handles the other.... Read more
We Dare to change health inequities
Feb 07, 2022How can nursing research help us achieve health equity?
One in three women in the U.S. have hypertension. For African American women, the rates are even higher, and they’re coupled with a greater risk for stroke, renal disease, diabetes and other health problems.
Before Lenette Jones became an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, she was a sophomore in U-M’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, where her first research assignment would set the course for her scholarly work as a behavioral nurse scientist.
The project focused... Read more
Community research to reshape health care for young Black men in Detroit
Feb 07, 2022Written by: Alex Bienkowski
Over the last year, Assistant Professor Jade Burns, Ph.D., RN, CPNP-PC, has been leading community-centered research in Detroit as part of a dynamic project to improve health education, access and outcomes for young Black men in urban communities.
Before COVID-19, her project, Young Men’s Health Matters, relied on in-person interaction to gain a deeper understanding of the community’s most pressing health care concerns. But in light of social distancing guidelines, Burns has drawn on her expertise at the intersection of technology and... Read more
Maternity health care workers expressed anguish, questioned roles early in pandemic
Feb 07, 2022In general, the challenges of being a health care provider and the risks for potential COVID-19 infection are acknowledged, but it’s less clear how COVID risk mitigation strategies in hospitals impact maternity health care workers.
To that end, researchers from the University of Michigan School of Nursing including Lisa Kane Low, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, FAAN and the Obstetrics Initiative at Michigan Medicine asked nurses, physicians and midwives across Michigan, “How has COVID-19 impacted your work?”
The answers showed deeper levels of anguish and fear than was anticipated and... Read more
The Pandemic Has Made Many Seniors Less Active
Feb 07, 2022A University of Michigan team surveyed about 2,000 American adults aged 50 to 80 in early 2021, asking about their activity levels.
It found that almost 40 percent of those over 65 reported both reduced physical activity and less daily time spent on their feet since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. In this representative national sample, those factors were associated with worsened physical conditioning and mobility.
“It’s a cascade of effects,” said Geoffrey Hoffman, a health-services researcher at the university’s School of Nursing and the lead author of the... Read more
Lockdowns during early pandemic saved lives, but not a go-to strategy moving forward
Jan 24, 2022The U.S. pandemic lockdown in 2020 caused a $2.3 trillion economic downturn and split the nation politically, and now some European nations are locking down again as Omicron surges through the global population.
But do these drastic measures save lives? Are they worth massive job and income losses?
A new University of Michigan-led study shows the early lockdowns implemented in the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic saved lives–but the decision to use lockdowns is much more nuanced and the research shouldn’t be used to justify lockdowns now or to retroactively endorse... Read more
Neonatal hospitalization leaves parents feeling isolated, separated during pandemic
Jan 21, 2022Emotional exhaustion, isolation and “nonsensical” visitor and other hospital policies contributed to parents of children hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units feeling less satisfied with care during the early days of COVID-19.
Research from the University of Michigan School of Nursing, Marquette University and University of Nebraska Medical Center examined the family impact and financial well-being of 178 parents whose infants were hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units between Feb. 1 and July 31, 2020, during the early period of COVID-19.
Parents reported... Read more
Vaccine mandate will likely have little impact on health care worker staffing shortage
Jan 12, 2022The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing challenges to a Biden administration vaccine mandate that requires eligible employees in Medicare or Medicaid-funded facilities to get vaccinated or receive an exemption.
The law takes effect Jan. 27 in 25 states including Michigan–the other 25 states have challenged the law in court. It will be phased in over several months.
Sheria Robinson-Lane, assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, is an expert in palliative and long-term care and nursing administration. Her research focuses on the care and support of older... Read more
