The Center for Nursing Research office draws on expertise from across the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh campus to give a shot in the arm to College of Nursing (CON) faculty, staff and students working on research and scholarly projects.
Led by CON Assistant Dean Bonnie Schmidt, the center offers a full range of research support services, including literature searches, journal selection, research assistance, graduate project assistance, statistical analysis, and learning and curriculum evaluation.
“The center is a hidden treasure that might surprise many who pass through the college,” said Schmidt, who also serves as the evaluation and projects director for CON.
Chad Cotti, College of Business economics professor
Located in Clow Hall, Room 226, the center partners with Erin McArthur, online learning librarian, for journal selection and article formatting; and Chad Cotti, College of Business economics professor, for statistical services.
“In recent years, I have had the ability to collaborate with many of the wonderful nursing faculty and nursing graduate students on a variety of research topics,” Cotti said.
“As a health economist, I am able to bring my background in econometric methods to aid in the analysis of important research topics in nursing,” he said. “Simultaneously, working on these issues has opened new avenues in my research agenda that I would not have been exposed to if not for my experiences with the Center for Nursing Research.”
In addition, psychology graduate student assistants like Kevin Mohawk, of Keshena, and Megan Patterson, of Madison, are on hand in the center to create evaluation/research surveys, run statistical reports and transform data into graphs and tables for easy analysis.
Graduate students Kevin Mohawk, left, and Megan Patterson, right, in the Center for Nursing Research.
“We help with course evaluations, literature reviews and research methods,” Patterson said.
The graduate assistants also help with the data needed for undergraduate research and graduate students’ scholarly/capstone projects, Schmidt said. “This assistance has promoted the research productivity and scholarship of busy CON faculty.”
In turn, the grad assistants learn from their involvement with the center, preparing them for careers beyond grad school or even doctoral study.
Work in the center also involves collecting and analyzing data required for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs and Higher Learning Commission accreditation.
“We always are interested in collaborating with our alumni and community partners in research studies,” Schmidt said.