Daily Archives: April 17, 2020

Occupational Therapy Faculty Develops, Tests Mobility Device for Infants

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Dr. Teresa Plummer, PhD, OTR/L, ATP, CEAS, CAPS and associate professor of occupational therapy

Dr. Teresa Plummer, PhD, OTR/L, ATP, CEAS, CAPS and associate professor of occupational therapy

Dr. Teresa Plummer, PhD, OTR/L, ATP, CEAS, CAPS and associate professor of occupational therapy, has spent the past 10 years modifying ride-on toys for children who have limited access to their environment, as no such device yet existed for children under six years of age. Plummer involved students, alumni and faculty of the Occupational Therapy Department with opportunities to join this endeavor and has been instrumental in the teaching and conducting modifications for more than 260 families at no cost to them.

Dr. Plummer consulted with Permobil, Inc., a global leader in advanced medical technology, to develop and test a device for infants called the Explorer Mini. Permobil develops, manufactures and markets wheelchairs, seating, positioning and communication systems for people with disabilities. The company issued an expression of gratitude that stated, “The contribution by Dr. Plummer into the validation of the Explorer Mini was significant and highly appreciated by us, but ever more by all generations of children to come.”

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School of Nursing Alumna Presents Research with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Research Fellowship

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Nursing alumna Kelsey Maguire, Class of 2014

Nursing alumna Kelsey Maguire, Class of 2014

Kelsey Maguire, alumna of the School of Nursing’s Class of 2014, presented research with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) Nursing Research Fellowship in January 2020. Maguire works as a registered nurse in the MSKCC Urgent Care Center (UCC), a specialized 24-hour unit dedicated to the treatment of emergent medical issues in patients undergoing treatment for cancer at MSKCC in New York, New York.

Maguire’s study, titled “Frequency of Oncologic Emergency Visits to a Comprehensive Cancer Center Urgent Care Center: A Descriptive Cohort Study,” aims to describe the number and frequency of patient visits to the UCC and identify groups of oncologic patients reporting for emergency care multiple times within a year.

The study was conducted through a Retrospective Chart Review of all patients visiting the unit in 2018 in hopes of filling a gap in the literature describing the utilization of the oncologic Emergency Department. The results of this study hope to inform future work to proactively identify and improve outcomes for patients at high risk for unplanned care.

Next steps for the project include follow-up studies at the institution, as well as applications to present a poster at the Oncology Nursing Society Congress in San Antonio, Texas, and publish the results.

Dr. Voight Participates in 2020 Interventional Orthobiologics Foundation Congress

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Dr. Voight at IOF CongressDr. Mike Voight, professor of physical therapy, was recently an invited participant at the Interventional Orthobiologics Foundation 2020 Congress on Regenerative Medicine.

As a member of the IOF, Dr. Voight has participated in the past four congresses and has an active interaction with other members. The latest in regenerative biological research is presented and discussed.

Dr. Voight has routinely brought this “cutting edge” information back to the classroom with integration into the physical therapy coursework.

Dr. Hallmark Hosts National Conversation on Virtual Learning

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Hallmark's headshotDr. Beth Hallmark, director of simulation for the College of Health Sciences and Nursing and National League for Nursing (NLN) fellow, recently assisted in facilitating a virtual NLN Town Hall.

This online meeting of NLN experts and nurse educators focused on strategies for online teaching and learning with the recent transition to online courses due to the challenges of COVID-19. Through this virtual meeting, nurse educators were able to engage in discussion regarding how to best continue a sufficient learning experience virtually by asking questions, sharing ideas and offering solutions that have seen results thus far.

The conversation centered on various ways to ensure requirements for graduation were met for students nearing graduation, as well as ways to offer secure testing methods virtually. A large emphasis of the meeting was on creative online teaching and learning strategies. Ideas for teaching students in this ever-evolving situation ranged from tactics to enhance critical thinking to teaching in community to solutions for remote simulation.

With the cancellation of clinical rotations for students, Hallmark has dedicated her time to developing innovative simulation events to continue to meet student’s education needs. Like many, Hallmark is adapting to a dynamic situation to continue preparing the next generation of professional nurses.