Research features
The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing cultivates academic excellence through immersive, interprofessional and interdisciplinary education and research. Faculty represent diversity across various fields of expertise, research and personal experience. They also foster collaboration among other faculty, students and throughout UC Davis. The stories below highlight a few of the school’s educators as well as current and previous research projects at the school.
New research seeks to identify traits and systems to improve lives of patients. Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing Dean Stephen Cavanagh and postdoctoral scholar Tina Rylee unpack the theoretical framework of innovation in the nursing profession. The two share their findings in a new journal article.
Is simulation training in nursing education equitable?
A team of Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing faculty seeks to identify how inclusive teaching practices improve simulation experiences for marginalized students. They hope to gain insight in how best to support students from historically marginalized backgrounds.
Decreasing HIV risk for sexual assault survivors
Nurse researcher Jessica Draughon Moret seeks to develop multimedia app to educate about post-exposure HIV medications as part of a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.
UC Davis nursing faculty present on international stage
A team of several School of Nursing faculty travel to Scotland this week to present their research at the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Society annual conference in Scotland. Gordon Worley is one of five faculty, along with an alumnus, scheduled to present.
Family Caregiving Institute professor leads research to improve care for older adults
Deb Bakerjian’s experiences in multiple facets across her career shape her caregiving research and guide her education innovations. As she leads several educational programs at the School of Nursing, she continues to partner with other experts to improve the partnership between caregivers and health providers.
Pivotal grant paves way for independent research
Julie Bidwell is one step closer to the researching role she dreamed for herself. The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing assistant professor recently received a three-year, $450,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It funds her study of hospital-to-home transitions for older adult couples who are managing heart failure.
Physician, researcher and social scientist Ladson Hinton discusses his work as associate director for research at the Family Caregiving Institute at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. His career spans two decades focused on caregiving experiences among older adults and their families. Now, Hinton says the institute shines light on the needs of caregivers and how to best support them. He looks to the future when the institute moves its impact to the global level.
Coronavirus pandemic highlights gaps in support for caregivers
Heather M. Young dedicates her career to improving the lives and well-being of older adults. For millions across the country, the coronavirus pandemic left caregivers of frail, older adults with few support services. As she cared for several older adults in her own life, Heather also leaned into her research exploring creative solutions to better support older adults and their caregivers.
Learn more about student research
Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership Graduate Students presented their scholarly work in a series of online presentations June 5 and 11, 2020. Activities included thesis, dissertation and research poster presentations led by doctoral, nursing, physician assistant and family nurse practitioner students.
Former health administrator turns to research to solve health problems
After 25 years in health services administration and software development, Assistant Professor Katherine Kim shifted her career toward informatics research. She explores the use of data from multiple sources to develop custom health interventions for people.
Psychologist grows understanding of mood, anxiety disorders
Philippe Goldin, a psychologist in the School of Nursing, studies brain patterns and responses to better understand people’s emotional responses. His research sheds light on how people learn as well as how to better treat people with mood and anxiety disorders.
Help for family caregivers of people with heart disease
Nurse Julie Bidwell shifted her focus from bedside care in an Oregon hospital’s cardiovascular unit to research after discovering the challenges people with heart disease, and their family caregivers, face when discharged from a hospital. She seeks better methods of support for these families to reduce stress for both the caregivers and the patients.
Understanding microaggressions, improving retention
Nurse researcher Piri Ackerman-Barger works to increase diversity in the health professions workforce to ensure more nurses, physicians and physician assistants represent the communities they serve. She says this begins with more inclusive learning environments to better support underrepresented students. She works with an interprofessional team of researchers to better understand the experiences of minority health professions students.
Doctoral students travel to Denmark to explore future health technologies
A unique fellowship program that brings together UC Davis and Danish researchers allows students to take part in the cutting-edge research. For the past three summers, UC Davis Health and Aalborg University in Denmark partnered to offer the Transatlantic Telehealth Research Network (TTRN) Graduate Fellowship and International Exchange Program, where faculty and students from both universities spend a week immersed in digital health technologies research and development.
Memories of caring for great-grandmother leads nurse to pursue research to support family caregivers
Assistant Professor Fawn Cothran says watching her own family care for a relative with dementia led her to become a gerontological nurse who conducts research focusing on the stresses that affect African-American family caregivers.
Researchers develop program for caregivers of those with dementia to ease transition home
Researchers from the Family Caregiving Institute seek to help caregivers navigate the move back home following a hospital stay for family members with dementia. Because the transition home often includes a variety of challenges for caregivers, this research project seeks to develop innovative tools specifically for the caregivers.
Learn together, practice together
A joint project between the UC Davis School of Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing integrates team-based care in the classroom and in clinical learning environments. The project brings together medical, physician assistant and nurse practitioner students who learn to regularly work in teams to provide better patient care.
When words matter: nurse scientist examines how terminology impacts data
Nursing Associate Professor Tae Youn Kim seeks to increase power of health data by improving how information on treatments and outcomes is classified and saved.
Improving dementia care through music
Researchers from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis collaborate with the California Association of Health Facilities (CAHF) on a quality improvement initiative aimed at improving dementia care in skilled nursing facilities.
Charting new territory, developing relationships for new opportunities
Meet the nursing professor designing clinical opportunities for students in the Master’s Entry Program in Nursing at the UC Davis nursing school.
Producing resources for family caregivers
Faculty at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis partner with colleagues at AARP to empower family caregivers with the knowledge and skills needed to care for a loved one at home. From understanding difficult medication regimens to discussing sensitive caretaker responsibilities, actors in a new series of videos address various aspects of family caregiving rooted in the knowledge of registered nurses.
Seeing beyond the person to improve care for people
The admiration Janice Bell developed for nurses, coupled with her love of research, propelled her to a career in nursing. Her quest to change the way nurses think about health beyond caring for individuals brought her to the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. Learn how Bell brings her nursing perspective to caring for people and mentors students in the classroom.
Training health coaches in primary-care clinics to empower people with chronic diseases
The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis developed a sustainable program whereby Central Valley primary-care centers prepare medical assistants and nurses to be health coaches. Researchers hope the program creates a system where providers can focus resources on the sickest of the population and redirect people with chronic diseases into avenues where education and goal setting is reinforced by health coaches.
Grabbing opportunity, guided by 'the why'
Katherine Kim learned early in her sophomore year at Harvard College that collaboration and teamwork are crucial to effective research. Driven by the nagging question "Why?" she tapped into the passion that propels her professionally and furthers the mission of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis.
Shifting the chronic disease discussion
Chronic health conditions that plague more than 117 million people can be managed, modified and improved if people living with them take part in the solution. The School of Nursing leads a research study focusing on individuals with diabetes to determine if innovative approaches, including mobile technology and nurse coaching, help those people better manage their chronic disease.
From transplants to technology
A surgeon focused on general and transplant surgery in Mexico City, Alberto Odor enjoyed providing for people for 25 years. But the allure of computers and the promise of how technology could improve care for entire populations ultimately brought him to UC Davis and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.
Navigating the complexities of advanced-illness care
In hopes of improving the quality of life for those nearing its end, the Alameda County Care Alliance launched an innovative church-based care navigator program for congregants and their caregivers. Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing researchers join to develop a health coaching model to train care navigators, as well as design and implement an evaluation of the program.
Finding what drives people toward healthy behavior
This professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis has amassed a wealth of information on the scientific study of behaviors relating to a person’s health and well-being.
The power of adapted technology to improve health of populations
Could teenagers and their iPods make a community healthier? Youth from the Karuk Tribe and a professor from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis teamed up to find out. What they discovered could benefit populations across the globe.
Improving health outcomes for women and immigrant populations
School of Nursing Professor Mary Lou de Leon Siantz devotes her life and research to improving women’s health. Her current research focuses on the well-being of Hispanic immigrant adolescents and identifying what education will inform better outcomes and produce healthy people.
Improving care, decreasing costs through care coordination
People with cancer face a complex care system. Complicated treatment regimens, multiple specialists with individualized therapies and a web of health-care bureaucracy drive up cost and decrease quality in care. To address the negatives of fragmented care, poor communication and increasing expense, an interdisciplinary team from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing and the Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Davis investigates how tablet computers and reimagined social-networking software can improve the experience and outcome for all who become ill.
An education that goes beyond diagnosis to understand the person, family and community
Meet the educator bringing experience in prelicensure programs and dedication to health equity.
Making the case for nursing-home leaders increasing skills for improved care
As members of the baby boom generation get older and reach retirement age, they present increasing concerns for the quality and value of nursing-home care. As this "silver tsunami" swells, industry and policy leaders search for ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiencies of long-term care services. Elena Siegel, an assistant professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis, investigates critical skill sets needed by nursing-home management teams to influence policy, improve care and reduce costs.
Theresa Harvath is a trailblazer who recognized early in her education and career that health care needed a focus on prevention and rehabilitation. With more than 25 years in nursing education and clinical practice, she now brings that visionary expertise to the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis to sharpen the skills of new, graduate-student nurses and prepare them for new roles emerging in health care.
Elizabeth Rice forged her own path as a nurse practitioner seeking to bridge the gap between physical health and mental health. Her career took her from practice, to research and then nursing education before she landed at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis to lead its family nurse practitioner program. Her goal: encourage nurses from diverse pathways to become nurse practitioners.
