Closely guided by their faculty mentors, PhD in nursing students spend years doing a deep dive into original research topics before presenting their final projects to a committee. The following individuals successfully created, completed, and defended their dissertations:

• Veronica Bernacchi, PhD `22
  Exploring rural resilience through cultural and geospatial contexts
  (mentored by Drs. Pam DeGuzman, Virginia LeBaron, Jamie Zoellner, and Kathleen Porter)
  
  
• Charemon Brooks, PhD `22
  Educating the Black professional nurse in Virginia: Race, place, and politics, 1891-1939
  (mentored by Drs. Barbra Wall, Arlene Keeling, Cathy Campbell, and Kwame Out)
  
  
• Sherry Kausch, PhD `21
  Analytical approaches to quantify illness severity
  (mentored by Drs. Jessica Keim-Malpass, Randall Moorman, Jennifer Lobo, and Brynne Sullivan)
  
  
• K. Jane Muir, PhD `21
  Exploring the direct and indirect costs of nurse burnout for a healthcare organization
  (mentored by Drs. Jessica Keim-Malpass, Virginia LeBaron, Tanya Wanchek, and Jennifer Lobo)
  
  
• Marie Statler, PhD `21
  The impact of racial concordance on African American participation in nursing research: A qualitative descriptive study
  (mentored by Drs. Susan Kools, Barbra Wall, Randy Jones, and Jeanita Richardson)
  
  
• Victoria Tucker, PhD `22
  Moving lines: Position, power and identity; Black nurses in Virginia, 1950s-1980
  (mentored by Drs. Barbra Wall, Derrick Aldridge, Debra Barksdale, Susan Kools, and Talitha LeFlouria)

With the guidance of their advisers and clinical mentors, Doctor of Nursing Practice students identify a clinical problem, gather existing research on it, pursue their own avenues of study, and present their findings and the clinical implications. The following DNP students successfully presented and defended their scholarly practice projects:

• Laura Biazon, DNP `22 - Integration of early introduction guidelines for the primary prevention of food allergies into infant well child checks within a pediatric primary care setting (mentored by Drs. Terri Yost and Emma Mitchell)
  
  
• Steve Fetcho, DNP `21 - Educating primary care providers on the evidence supporting the use of yoga in treating anxiety, depression and lower back pain (mentored by Drs. Kathryn Reid, Gina DeGennaro, and Beth Quatrara)
  
  
• Mary Lacy Grecco, DNP `21, MSN `21 - The effect of simulated communication training on self-efficacy and frequency of discussions in oncology nurses conducting advance directive discussions with patients on clinical trials (mentored by Drs. Regina DeGennaro and Clareen Wiencek)
  
  
• Sarah Hogan, DNP `22 - A systematic evaluation of an accreditation readiness program at an academic medical center (mentored by Drs. Clareen Wiencek, Richard Westphal, and Ivora Hinton, and Denise Barth)
  
  
• Elizabeth Kassulke, DNP `22 - Program evaluation: Clinical nurse specialist-led program for diabetes health (mentored by Drs. Beth Quatrara, Gina DeGennaro, and Linda Thurby-Hay)
  
  
• Allison Kirkner, DNP `22 - Program evaluation of a critical care advanced practice provider fellowship (mentored by Dr. Clareen Wiencek, Dr. Elizabeth Hundt, and Michelle Dawson)
  
  
• Carl Lambert, DNP `22 - The impact of simulation-based training on the self-confidence of new nurses in the care of acutely deteriorating patients and the activation of the rapid response team (mentored by Drs. Clareen Wiencek and Beth Quatrara, and Jill Francis-Parr)
  
  
• Morgan McDowell, DNP `22 - Promoting antibiotic stewardship for UTIs in skilled nursing facilities (mentored by Drs. Kathryn Reid, Meghan Mattos, and Vicki McLean)  
  
  
• Shaune McKinnon, DNP `22 - Program evaluation of the therapeutic community in the correctional setting (mentored by Drs. Richard Westphal and Edie Barbero)
  
  
• Kristine O’Keefe-Young, DNP `22 – A program evaluation of a cystic fibrosis transition program at an academic medical center (mentored by Drs. Gina DeGennaro and Beth Quatrara, and Kristi Gott)
  
  
• Wendy Old, DNP `22 - The effect of team resilient actions on compassion satisfactions scores in a primary care practice (mentored by Drs. Elizabeth Friberg, Steven Pearman, and Richard Ridge)
  
  
• Susanna Pruangkarn, DNP `22 - Intimate partner violence assessment program evaluation (mentored by Drs. Clareen Wiencek and Richard Westphal)
  
  
• Lorie Shora, DNP `22 - Addressing geographic disparities in mental health research participation: A process improvement project (mentored by Drs. Elizabeth Friberg and Gina DeGennaro)
  
  
• Habibah Williams, DNP `22 - Evaluation of a pilot program to increase healthcare professionals' awareness of the effects of weight bias (mentored by Drs. Elizabeth Hundt, Beth Quatrara, and Cynthia Ellison)

• Improving burden assessment of care partners
  by Dianna Gibson, Lucy Gordon, Julie Ortega, Kaylah Navone, and Emese Schafft
• Visual management boards for staff engagement in quality and safety
  by Amber Campos, Ricki Parham-Johnson, and Hardwynn Tunacao
• Patient education discharge checklist to facilitate bed availability for L&D transfers to mother-baby
  by Sabrina Martinez, Kiki Suphal, Ellie Sechler, Marybeth Hogeboom, and Meredith Chapman
• Development of a throughput improvement tool with sexual assault patients in emergency departments
  by Amelia Kirby
• Prevention of central line-associated bloodstream infections on a stem cell transplant unit
  by Heather Cantwell
• Improving oral care adherence of prolonged, mechanically-ventilated patients in an adult cardiovascular ICU
  by Susie Kile, Hannah Kirkland, Jamie Nagy, and Michelle Roos
• Reducing falls by improving call bell communication
  by Mousumi Franks
• Yoga for anxiety: Inpatient psychiatry
  by Daniel Esquivel
• Implementation of the high flow holiday weaning protocol in pediatric bronchiolitis patients
  by Ally Dimatulac, Pat Argue, and Aradhana Khubani
• Leaving the nest: Improving nursing knowledge of developmentally supportive positioning
  by Ally Lane, Rich Kinsley, Kelsey MacPherson, and Casey Ackerman
• Using the NURSE mnemonic to guide goals of care conversations in the critical care setting: An educational intervention
  by Katie Bergamesca, Emma Colavincenzo, and Anna Woepke
• Unit acuity scales for staffing decisions in the SICU
  by Dominic Fusanotti and Jaimi Cannata
• Implementation of a turning device for pressure injury prevention on an adult medical intensive care unit
  by Roman Abdul Satar, Julie Brylawski, Erik Hancock, Candace Ransom, and Ellie Richardson
• Adapting a sedation weaning guideline on a surgical trauma ICU
  by Megan Carpenter and Devan Kaufman
• Educating nursing students in palliative care
  by Bonnie-Rebecca Stewart
• Artificial airway discharge teaching bedside checklist
  by Aundrea Rainwater
• Reducing supply seek and find time in the ED
  by Julie Land
• Improving compliance with the check-out process in the outpatient surgery center (OPSC) operating room (OR)
  by Tamara Gordon
• Use of dietary badge cards to improve nursing knowledge regarding transplant diets
  by Christopher Brodnik, Grace Tavakkol, and Elizabeth Vincent
• The impact of skin-to-skin contact on the process of neonatal vital sign collection
  by Jaliah Richardson and Sasha Strakhova
• Educational intervention to promote music therapy in the PACU
  by Janie Raven, Cullen Williams, Forrest Lloyd, and Mavis Kumi

BSN students who complete Distinguished Majors Projects - work that is over and above what is required to graduate and outside the traditional BSN curriculum - spend the final year of their nursing program investigating a topic of their choice under the guidance of a faculty mentor. The following students, some of whom will publish their findings in academic journals, proposed, tested, and presented their findings to the School community, and graduate as our 2022 Distinguished Majors:

• Abigail Molina-Calderon    
  Perceived level of burden and sense of wellbeing among caregivers of patients receiving in-center hemodialysis
  
  
• Emily McClung    
  Exploring the perceptions and experiences of neonatal intensive care nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic
  
  
• Tuyet Choung    
  Describing feeding outcomes in infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome
  
  
• Emma Hearington    
  Nurse perception of the impact of play on post-operative pediatric pain
  
  
• Claire Obeck    
  Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infection: Assessing caregiver experience
  
  
• Mary-Emily Williams    
  Exploring the relationship between pre-stroke physical activity and post-stroke functional independence
  
  
• Carleigh Schafer    
  Access to emergency contraception pills at the University of Virginia
  
  
• Cannon Robinson    
  Multimodal approach to central line education in adult oncology
  
  
• Luis Lorenzo    
  What coping strategies did UVA undergraduates use during the COVID-19 pandemic?
  
  
• Rollins Terry    
  Exploring differences in maternal birth satisfaction before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
  
  
• Nell Fountain    
  The role probiotics can play in combatting stress
  
  
• Joria Le    
  Etiologies of chronic cough from infancy to late adolescence
  
  
• Lindsay Shaw    
  Impact of chronic illness on social connectedness in the adolescent young adult solid organ transplant recipient
  
  
• Anna Dunchus    
  Analyzing the caregiver perspective on transfer of care for adolescents with congenital heart disease
  
  
• Alyssa Gail Valencia    
  Effect of family-centered care in pediatric sepsis trials