Ph.D. Student Support Fund Update

The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN) Ph.D. Student Support Fund was established by Graduate faculty and program alumni in 2010. Its purpose is to assist students in meeting non-tuition related expenses associated with dissertation completion. To date, seven students have been awarded financial support. Of those, four have been awarded the Ph.D. degree. The success of the VUSN Ph.D. Student Support Fund is clearly demonstrated in our recipients’ accomplishments and we are pleased to present the 2013 recipients.

Clinta Che' Reed

Clinta Che’ Reed, PhD(c), RN, CNL

Area of research: Nursing work, decision-making and responses to interruptions

Che’ received funding for the purchase of the Work Observation Method by Activity Timing (WOMBAT) web hosting, a tablet computer device, a domain name and SSL certificate. In addition, Che’ received funding from The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) to purchase the WOMBAT software license. These items will be used for data collection in her dissertation project, Nursing Work and Responses to Interruptions. The study will include time-motion observations of nurses working on medical and/or surgical units. The nurses’ routine work activity and interruptions will be observed and described. Relationships among unit and nurse characteristics with interruptions and responses to interruptions will also be explored. This study is unique in observing nurses on medical and/or surgical units for an extended period of routine work activity rather than in intensive care units or emergency departments, or during specific tasks such as medication administration.

Area of research: Relationships among maternal stress indicators (physical, psychological and environmental) and mothers’ milk immune components of African American women delivering term infants.

Shelley Thibeau

Shelley Thibeau, PhD(c), RNC-NIC

Area of research: Relationships among maternal stress indicators (physical, psychological and environmental) and mothers’ milk immune components of African American women delivering term infants.

Shelley received funding to support milk sample analysis at the Biobehavioral Lab of the University of South Florida for her dissertation research project, Relationships among Maternal Stress and Immune Components of Mothers’ Milk. This amount was in addition to the initial funding she received in April 2012 to provide gift cards for mothers who participated in her dissertation research project. Shelley’s research is an important area of discovery since African American women have the lowest breastfeeding initiation and duration rates, and the highest infant mortality rates up to 1 year of age in the USA, regardless of socioeconomic or educational backgrounds. Information gained from this research will guide future interventions to improve breastfeeding outcomes for these women and their children. Shelley received additional funding awards from The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, the Epsilon Nu Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau and the Vanderbilt Graduate School Travel Grant  for this project. Shelley has completed enrollment of 139 women and distributed 91 gift cards to subjects completing study procedures. Milk analysis was completed in July 2014.

Total Dollars Awarded Since Fund Established
$15,166.57

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