News Releases
Eight DNP Students Share Expertise Through Poster Presentations at National Conferences
March 1, 2018
By Kevin Nash
As part of their coursework in preparation for graduating from the University of Maryland School of Nursing’s (UMSON) Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, students submit poster presentation abstracts on various health topics to national nursing organizations. Eight UMSON DNP students — Kelly Allen, BSN, RN, CCRN; Sharon Ballinger, BSN, RN, CCRN; Eugena Bergvall, BSN, RN, CCRN, CNRN; George Bigalbal, BSN, RN, CEN; Jamie Bowman, BSN '12, RN; Ajibola Ibironke, BSN '11, RN, CCRN; Megan Lucciola, BSN, RN, CMSRN; and Theresa Nowak, BSN, RN, CCRN — had their abstracts accepted to several upcoming national nursing organization conferences.
In developing their abstracts, DNP students in Diagnosis and Management 5: Advanced Practice/Clinical Nurse Specialist Roles in Health Care Delivery Systems were asked to select a national nursing organization to which to submit a poster presentation abstract, review the organization’s abstract submission guidelines, and describe how and why they identified the health care need or topic they focused on. Assistant Professors Maranda Jackson-Parkin, PhD, CRNP-BC, ACNP, CCNS, CCRN-K, and Alicia Williams, DNP, RN, MBA, ACNP-BC, CCNS, served as mentors. Some students’ presentations were accepted to multiple conferences.
“Having so many of our students have their abstracts accepted at national conferences demonstrates the dedication of our students and their faculty mentors to advancing the practice of nursing and is the reason UMSON is a top-10 DNP program,” said Shannon Idzik, DNP ’10, MS ’03, CRNP, FAANP, FAAN, associate professor and associate dean for the DNP program. “Much like any of the other skills our advanced practice registered nurse students learn, dissemination takes practice. Presenting at these conferences will set the stage for lifelong scholarship.”
Allen will be presenting “Using Clinical Data to Design Nurse Education for Expansion of Oncology Services” at the Oncology Nursing Society’s 43rd Annual Congress, May 17-20, in Washington, D.C. The abstract will also be published in an online issue of Oncology Nursing Forum. In addition, Allen had a second abstract, “Translation of a Vascular Specific Cardiac Risk Stratification Tool into Practice for Patients Undergoing Open Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair,” accepted for display, this time at the Society for Vascular Nursing 36th Annual Conference, June 20-21, in Boston.
Ibironke also had two abstracts accepted. She will present “Effectiveness of Quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (QSOFA) as Sepsis Screening Tool in the Emergency Department (ED)” as a podium presentation at MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s 3rd Annual Nursing Evidence-Based Practice and Research Conference on March 8 in Washington, D.C. The same abstract was also accepted to the 6th International Congress on Bacteriology and Infectious Disease, May 21-22 in New York City.
Additionally, Ballinger, Bergvall, Bigalbal, Bowman,Lucciola, and Nowak all will present their posters at the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists’ annual conference, Feb. 28-March 3 in Austin, Texas.