Project Description:
We propose a co-curricular public health workforce development project for nursing students. Specifically, this project will reach two groups: senior-level nursing students (bachelor's and master's students) preparing for RN-licensure and PhD nursing students preparing for research in disabilities and healthcare. This project will build the public health workforce in nursing by supporting students in both co-curricular programs as they develop mastery of disability competencies in public health policy and practice.
Prelicensure students. The co-curriculum is a coordinated, clinically-based practice and theory experience that results in a certificate issued by the School of Nursing in recognition of additional public health and disability competency. Senior-level students enrolled in a 6-unit public health nursing course and simultaneously enrolled a 3-unit healthcare policy course in Spring quarter will be eligible to enroll in a corresponding 2-unit course entitled Disability and Public Health: Policy and Practice.
We will base the design of the 2-unit course on the six competencies outlined by the Alliance for Disability in Healthcare Education (2019). Students who are accepted into the co-curricular certificate program will take part in an asynchronous learning experience concurrent with their public health nursing practicum. The asynchronous platform allows for durability of the course and sustainability beyond this grant opportunity. In Year 01 (April-June 2022) curriculum will be developed and trialed with students. Data from the Y1 trial of curriculum will inform revisions to be implemented in Y2. The course syllabi and certification process will be forwarded for approval by the School of Nursing Curriculum Committee, followed by the University Undergraduate and Graduate (Academic Senate) Councils and (administrative) Divisions, furthering the sustainability of the co-curriculum. In Year 02 (April - June 2023), the Disability and Public Health: Policy and Practice certificate course will be implemented and evaluated, according to department and university policies. Also, in Y2, students will prepare their end-of-course project for presentation at a local-regional nursing research conference to reach a broad public health nursing workforce.
PhD students. Building on faculty research, two PhD students will engage in a mentored co-curriculum linking developmental disability to public health nursing through a study of vaccination decision-making. Nationally, as of July 31, 2021, COVID-19 vaccination coverage among U.S. adolescents aged 12–17 years was 42.4% for ≥1 dose and 31.9% for series completion. (CDC, Sep 3, 2021). A public health goal is to achieve herd immunity for vaccine-preventable illness through vaccination initiatives. Among adolescents, understanding the rate of vaccination for non-mandated vaccines is imperative to promoting the public's health. For example, for COVID-19 vaccination 42.4% of 12-17 year-olds were vaccinated with 1+ doses, and 31.9% showed series completion using an approved vaccine in September, 2021 (Murthy, et al, 2020). Thus, understanding decision making for vaccinations not mandated for school is imperative for the success of this and any future epidemic-related vaccine initiatives.
Our preliminary research led us to identify constellations of co-occurring health conditions likely to complicate decision-making by youth with intellectual disabilities and their parents about COVID and other non-mandated vaccinations. For example, youth with intellectual disability who also use life-sustaining technology (e.g., shunts, pacemakers, insulin pumps, ventilators) show two-fold lower odds of receiving preventive vaccination in our study, in comparison to youth without intellectual disability who are users of life-sustaining technology.
Both PhD students will be mentored to conduct individual interviews with parents and healthcare providers of youth who are technology-dependent with intellectual disability to learn about their vaccination decision making process. Half of the sample will be comprised of parents who chose to vaccinate (n=15) and half will be those who did not choose to vaccinate (n=15) with a non-mandated adolescent vaccine. Parents will nominate their child's healthcare provider to take part in a separate brief interview (n=30). We will transcribe and analyze interview data from each participant group separately, followed by a cumulative integration of findings across participant groups. The transcribed qualitative data will be analyzed using grounded theory methods to arrive at an understanding of vaccination decision-making and youth developmental disability and technology use.
The results of this student co-curricular experience will serve two purposes. First, results of the mentored research study will inform public health efforts to improve vaccination decision-making in families with a child with technology dependence, including the subset of those with intellectual disability. In the future, tailored vaccination messaging for families and youth with intellectual disability and technology dependence may be tested for consumer acceptability and effectiveness in influencing vaccination decisions of youth, parents, and pediatric care providers.
Second, the mentored research study will prepare a public health nursing workforce with disability and public health policy and practice expertise. The PhD students who will participate in the PhD co-curricular opportunity will become educators, scientists, and mentors to nurses in the future. Both PhD students engaged in this co-curricular experience are from under-represented minority groups. Each student has established research interests in developmental disability and public health nursing. This experience will support them in connecting with the professional community of public health practitioners who share research and policy interests in developmental disability. As part of the co-curricular experience, these two PhD students will be supported to apply for and attend the 2023 or 2024 National Institutes of Health Graduate Summer Opportunities to Advance Research (G-SOAR 2023 or 2024) and in the associated Translational Science Training Program.
Core Function(s):
Training Trainees, Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information, Continuing Education/Community Training
Target Audience:
Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees), Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Specific Groups
