UF College of Nursing holds Malasanos Distinguished Lectureship in conjunction with Annual Research Day
The University of Florida College of Nursing recently held its Distinguished Malasanos Lectureship in conjunction with its Second Annual Research Day, which featured more than 35 faculty and student research poster presentations in areas such as adult and elderly nursing, pain, health-care environments and systems, and women’s, children’s and family nursing. Student research posters were judged and prizes awarded.
The Malasanos Lectureship featured speaker Jean McSweeney, Ph.D., F.A.A.N., R.N., noted researcher in women and heart disease and a professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, who spoke to faculty, students and other health professionals about women’s common early and acute symptoms of myocardial infarction, better known as a heart attack. McSweeney discussed identifying cardiovascular risk factors according to race and the most common early, or prodromal, and acute symptoms of heart disease in women — and their implications on nursing research and practice. Her past research has identified warning signs of heart disease such as unusual fatigue, shortness of breath and sleep disturbance, suggesting that women who act on these symptoms could prevent a heart attack.
The Malasanos Distinguished Lectureship was endowed in 1992 in honor of John Malasanos, husband of former College of Nursing Dean Lois Malasanos, and brings distinguished speakers to the university every two years to discuss a wide variety of health topics of interest to clinicians, patients and the public.
Top honors for graduate research went to doctoral student Deborah Cantero, M.S., A.R.N.P., who is conducting a descriptive epidemiological survey on older women’s knowledge about osteoporosis, in order to examine the awareness of risk factors and current treatment options for osteoporosis. Two-hundred postmenopausal women in the Gainesville area are being studied from a variety of settings, including health-care clinics, retirement communities and community senior centers. Preliminary findings suggest that older women are not well informed about osteoporosis and that health education programs need to be developed for this vulnerable population. Cantero’s co-investigators include senior nursing students Kristin Lewis, Melissa Dehntjer and Melissa Meyer, and her faculty mentor is Associate Professor James Jessup, Ph.D., R.N.
Taking top prize for undergraduate research was senior nursing student Alexandra Quispe, who is studying the use of complementary and alternative medicine among more than 300 college students who attend school in north-central Florida. Researchers are seeking to understand the types of complementary and alternative medicines students use and their frequency of use in order to better manage their health needs. Senior nursing student Sue Ellen Anderson also is an investigator, and Assistant Professor Saunjoo Yoon, Ph.D., R.N., is Quispe’s faculty mentor.