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nursing professor receives grant to study nursing students
and stress
7/27/06
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HOUSTON
— Dr. Ann Malecha, associate professor of nursing at
Texas Woman's University’s Institute of Health Sciences-Houston
Center, has received a grant for her study titled “Preparing
the Future Nursing Workforce: A Pilot Study Examining Stressors
and Nursing Student Success.”
Forty
TWU nursing faculty and nursing graduate students —
20 from Houston and 20 from Dallas— have volunteered
to help conduct the study as part of the Nurses And Personal
Stressors (NAPS) research team.
“The
purpose of the study is to identify the type and extent of
various stressors associated with nursing students’
academic and professional successes and failures,” Dr.
Malecha said. “We hope to provide crucial data on the
relationships between personal and interpersonal stressors
and success in nursing school and, eventually, success on
the job.”
Starting this fall, all TWU junior I nursing students on the
Houston and Dallas campuses will be recruited to participate
in this four-year study. The study will examine personal and
interpersonal stressors, such as depression and verbal abuse,
during the last two years of nursing school and then two years
into their professional practice. Data will be compared between
those participants who remain in the nursing program and those
who leave the program, and will be collected whether or not
they are employed post-graduation.
“Over the years, nursing faculty have observed that
students who encounter personal stressors such as financial
stress, traumatic events such as death of family members or
major life changes such as pregnancy, appear more likely to
experience academic difficulty,” Dr. Malecha said. “Faculty
also keep in touch with alumni and are aware of ongoing issues
between personal stressors and success as a professional registered
nurse.”
“These
committed educators want to be part of the solution to the
nursing shortage,” Dr. Malecha said.
The
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Education and Research Center, located at the University of
Texas Health Science Center at Houston’s School of Public
Health, awarded Dr. Malecha a $16,900 grant to fund the study.
With
more than 12,000 alumni and more than 2,300 undergraduate
and graduate students at its Denton, Dallas and Houston campuses,
TWU has the largest college of nursing in Texas and produces
more new nurses than any other program in the state.
More
than 1,200 students majoring in nursing, physical therapy,
library science, business administration, healthcare administration,
occupational therapy and nutrition are enrolled at TWU’s
Institute for Health Sciences - Houston Center in the Texas
Medical Center. Construction is nearly complete on the new
TWU Houston campus, scheduled to open for fall classes on
Aug. 28. The new, state-of-the-art facility will be located
at 6700 Fannin St. and will allow TWU to eventually more than
double its Houston enrollment.
For
more information visit www.twu.edu.
###
For Further
Information Contact:
Amanda Simpson
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: asimpson1@twu.edu |
