FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 19, 2011
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124
aperkins@pa.muw.edu

Nursing students present findings during graduate research day at MUW

COLUMBUS, Miss. – Forty-four students of the Master of Science in Nursing Program at Mississippi University for Women participated in graduate research day, which is held each summer.

The purpose of MSN research day is to give graduate students the opportunity to participate in disseminating their research findings in a formal setting.

“For most of the students, it is the first time they have presented research methods and findings. Earlier in the year, students were required to submit a formal research poster of their project and findings,” said Dr. Johnnie Sue Cooper Wijewardane, chair of the graduate nursing program.

She added that the MSN curriculum is important because the students are engaged in a rather simple, yet rigorous research project.

“While participating in the conceptualization and development of their project proposal and through collecting data and analyzing findings, students become steeped in and develop an appreciation for the value of research and its link to evidence based findings and practice,” Wijewardane said.

MSN students Jessica Eaton and Shelia Sancillo, both of Saltillo, did research on lifestyle modification in Type II diabetics.

‘Type II Diabetes is a growing concern in the United States and especially in the South due to obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise. Genetics also play a factor,” Eaton said. “Lifestyle modification is a huge factor that primary care providers can implement in order to slow the progression of the disease and attempt to prevent complications.”

Sancillo added, “We were surprised at what a great job was being done with providing patients with the lifestyle modification teaching that they need. Consequently, it was also discovered that the nurse practitioners in the clinic provided teaching more consistently than the physicians.”

Both agreed that research day was the finish line of a long race.

“We worked diligently for an entire year researching and preparing our research project.  We were able to present our data to our peers and instructors to show them what we had learned and hopefully educate them too,” Eaton said. “This entire process will be of benefit to use in the future as we do independent research for our individual clinic settings and communicate with patients and other providers.

Eaton joined Endocrinology Consultants in Tupelo as a family nurse practitioner on Aug. 22. Sancillo recently started at Family+Urgent Care in Tupelo.