A team of Valparaiso University students recently presented an ongoing College of Nursing study, titled “Relationships among Life-style, Health Behaviors, and Health Status Outcomes for Underserved Adults” at the annual Midwest Nursing Research Society conference, held this year in Minneapolis, Minnesota. More than 200 nursing professionals attended the event, which provided a forum for the discussion of innovations in nursing research and open idea exchange.
The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among life-style, health behaviors, and health status outcomes for underserved adults at a nurse-managed center (Valparaiso’s Hilltop Clinic.) To accomplish this, random surveys were conducted of adults seated in the waiting area of the Hilltop Clinic who earned a yearly income of less than $25,000. Survey questions inquired about participants’ life-style habits, such as their amount of daily exercise, quantity of alcoholic beverages and tobacco consumed, and hours of sleep engaged in per day.
The results of the compiled data showed that the lifestyle factors of smoking, sleep, exercise, and daily alcohol intake were not related to a person’s quality of life. The research indicated that a person’s age was negatively correlated with alcoholic drinks, and medical conditions were positively correlated with exercise and prescription drug usage. Results also revealed that the only life-style or health behaviors significantly correlated with health status outcomes was prescription medication usage.
“The results of this research can be useful when considering care for the underserved,” said student Julie Wingstrom. “The results can also be used to develop nursing interventions when caring for and educating the underserved. The keynote speaker on the first day of the conference said research with the underserved is so important because we [as in health care providers] don't know much about how to care for them. A perfect example of this comes from our research, where we initially thought smoking and drinking would decrease one's quality of life, but the individuals we surveyed did not view smoking and drinking as being detrimental to their quality of life. This clearly demonstrates how we, as the educated population, think we know what's best for the underserved, when in fact, we don't.”
Janet Brown, Dean of the College of Nursing, said that the team’s presentation was so well-received by conference attendees, she received e-mails from colleagues commending their work before the students had even returned from the conference.
“They couldn't believe that this presentation was undergraduate work,” Brown said. “Undergraduate students presenting work at professional conferences is not the norm at most universities. In the College of Nursing at Valparaiso University, this has become much more common. Students are working with their professors and are producing excellent work. It is not surprising that they are being invited to present this work internationally.”
“It was amazing how we were treated like professionals and equals in the nursing world,” said student Molly Grime. “The self-growth I have noticed since the conference is very rewarding.”
“When you hear such great feedback [from nursing professionals] it makes you proud to know that even though we are undergraduates, our work can help to make a difference in nursing practice,” said student Evelyn Gomez.
For more information about Valparaiso University’s College of Nursing, visit www.valpo.edu/nursing.
