Six nursing students graduating from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Saturday, May 18, recently presented projects at the spring 2019 Honors Thesis Symposia at Reeve Memorial Union.
Their research covered a range of nursing education and healthcare topics from mindfulness practices in nursing education to LGBTQ nursing curriculum applications.
Taylor Fenske, a nursing student from Wausau, worked with faculty adviser Jason Mott on her research project “Rethinking Cancer Treatment: A Nursing Approach to Immunotherapy.”
Fenske said she chose this topic because several of her friends and family members have been impacted by cancer. She felt this research would better educate her as a resource for future patients. Fenske recently accepted an internal medicine nursing position at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.
Mott also served as a faculty adviser for nursing student Hannah Peters with her research project, “Inpatient Recovery, Postoperative Nursing Care and Long-Term Prognosis Utilizing Robot-Assisted Total Endoscopic Cardiac Surgery.”
Peters, of Hubertus, said the Honors thesis project helped her become a more independent, organized and scholarly student. Writing a 40-page thesis paper afforded her the skills necessary to pursue graduate school and become a nurse anesthetist, but for now she has accepted a nursing position in the neuro intensive care unit at Froedtert.
Healthcare organizations actively seek out baccalaureate-prepared nurses like Fenske and Peters. More than 73 percent of UW Oshkosh nursing students secure employment prior to graduation, and 88.5 percent begin working in the field within nine months of graduating, according to the UW Oshkosh Career and Professional Development First Destinations Outcomes report.
Other Honors College students with eyes set on the nursing workforce include:
- Emily Baseman, of Santa Rosa, California, nursing major, with faculty adviser Laura Smolinski, “Holistic Admissions in Nursing: A Systematic Review of Literature and Policy Development.”
- Erin Kelly, of Oshkosh, nursing major, with faculty adviser Heather Englund, “Trends in Emergency Department Utilization and the Role of Insurance: A Systematic Review of Literature.”
- Amber Nahley, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, nursing major, with faculty adviser Katherine Meine, “A Systematic Review: LGBTQ Nursing Curriculum Applications.”
- Jessalyn Wallace-Leece, of Wisconsin Rapids, nursing major, with faculty adviser Shelly Lancaster, “A Systematic Review: Mindfulness Practices in Nursing Education and Simulation.”
The six nursing students presented their Honors theses alongside 26 other graduating seniors from the colleges of Business; Education and Human Services; and Letters and Science. Each of the 32 students successfully completed the Honors curriculum and research capstone in addition to their respective college majors.
Those who presented at the symposia offer a glimpse of the wide range of scholarly activities that take place at UW Oshkosh.
- Emily Adas, of Beloit, medical technology major, with faculty adviser Eric Matson, “Determining the Metabolic Interactions Present in the UW Oshkosh Biodigester Using Methanogenic Archaea and Cellulose-Degrading Bacteria.”
- Beyann Alzoubi, of Oshkosh, chemistry major, with faculty adviser Kevin Crawford, “The Use of Fecal Progesterone Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry for Early Detection of Pregnancy in 13-Lined Ground Squirrels.”
- Becca Amick, of Mount Horeb, biology, chemistry and Spanish majors, with faculty adviser Laurie Waters, “The Subcellular Localization of Small Protein MntS in Escherichia coli.”
- Stephanie Anderson, of Oshkosh, biology major, with faculty adviser Bryan Lilly, “Salesperson Factors That Affect Purchasing in the Medical Field.”
- Aminata Bojang, of Madison, biology major, with faculty adviser Courtney Kurtz, “GLUT4 Levels in White Adipose Tissue of Ground Squirrels During the Active Season.”
- Constance Bougie, of Oshkosh, English major, with faculty adviser Stewart Cole, “Feeling Ulysses/Reading Ulysses.”
- Julia Dietrich, of McHenry, Illinois, marketing major, with faculty adviser Melissa Bublitz, “Determining Levels of Stress among College Students and Assessing Preparedness for Graduation.”
- Anna Dinkel, of Jefferson, history major, with faculty adviser Kim Rivers, “‘I have confirmed with my seal so that it may be held valid’: Agency, Identity, and the Physicality of Motherhood in Twelfthand Thirteenth-Century Aristocratic England.”
- Autumn Dunsmore, of Appleton, economics and finance majors, with faculty adviser Sarinda Siemers, “Is Education the Cure for Poverty? Evidence from Developing Nations.”
- Jessica Dybul, of Mount Pleasant, Spanish and secondary education majors, with faculty adviser Kate Short-Meyerson, “Levels of Motivation in College Students Pursuing a Degree in Foreign Language.”
- Monica Fieck, of Appleton, psychology major, with faculty adviser Anca Miron, “Examining Forms of Solidarity among College Women in Response to Gender Inequality.”
- Hailey Flood, of Libertyville, Illinois, biology major, with faculty adviser Sabrina Mueller-Spitz, “Bacterial Community Composition of Nuisance Blooms of Didymosphenia Geminata.”
- Madeline Hass, of Neenah, German, history and philosophy majors, with faculty adviser Laurence D. Carlin, “How Art Helps Us Understand: A Neo-Cognitivist Theory of the Value of Art.”
- Katie Hodges, of East Troy, psychology major, with faculty adviser Jim Koch, “EEG Correlates of Worry: A Test of Heller’s Theory of Frontal Asymmetry in Anxious Apprehension.”
- Lindsey Jaeggi, of Brooklyn, economics and human resources management majors, with faculty adviser Sarah DeArmond, “Villa Hope: A Study on Recruitment and Retention.”
- Charity Labuy, of Oshkosh, psychology major, with faculty adviser Robert Wagoner, “Happiness and Other Good Things: How the Desire Satisfaction Theory Best Accounts for the Roles of Morality, Authenticity, and Freedom in the Happy Life.”
- Amy Lanzendorf, of Madison, criminal justice and psychology majors, with faculty adviser Matt Richie, “Examining Recidivism in Diversion Programs for Those Charged with Felonies or Misdemeanors.”
- Daphne Lemke, of Fond du Lac, English major, with faculty adviser Stewart Cole, “‘Transformed Utterly’: Historical Fiction in the Context of Irish Nationalism and Folklore.”
- Stephanie Liechty, of Oregon, international studies and political science majors, with faculty adviser Tracy Slagter, “Doomed by Dependency: Health Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Threat of Non-Communicable Disease.”
- Rachel Mazurek, of Bessemer, Michigan, psychology major, with faculty adviser Justyna Olszewska, “The Influence of Test Type on False Recognition in the DRM Paradigm.”
- Joe Mercen, of Oshkosh, microbiology major, with faculty advisers Eric Matson and Greg Kleinheinz, “Use of Dry-Anaerobic Biodigester Effluent in a Microbial Fuel Cell.”
- Jennifer Perrault, of Racine, biology major, with faculty adviser Shelly Michalski, “Preparing for Antifilarial Drug Study.”
- Rebecca Tolsma, of White Lake, economics major, with faculty adviser Sarinda Siemers, “The Pursuit of Happiness: Determinants of International Migration.”
- Angie Vickman, of Greenleaf, biology major, with faculty adviser Lisa Dorn, “Epigenetic Influences on Plant Responses to the Environment.”
- Dyson Webster, of Appleton, Radio-TV-Film and Spanish majors, with faculty adviser Doug Heil, “SUPER.”
- Whitney Wender, of Iron Mountain, Michigan, multimedia journalism and public relations majors, with faculty adviser Sarah Hansen, “Exploring Influencer Marketing and the E-Cigarette Industry.”
All of the symposia presenters intend to take part in the UW Oshkosh Commencement Ceremonies at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 18, at Kolf Sports Center.
Learn more: