Depression was a problem for a patient that Emmanuel Okorie was working with this semester.
Okorie, a nursing student at Minot State University, said the patient has a colostomy bag and was becoming socially isolated. As part of a first-semester nursing class, Okorie looked at possible solutions to the patient care problem, such as support groups or smaller bags that fit under the patient's clothing and cannot be seen as easily.
Okorie and his classmates presented their research on nursing interventions and diagnosis in care planning during the annual Research Day held Friday at Minot State. Each of the students were assigned to work with a patient at a local nursing home and devise a care management plan to address that patient's unique needs. One patient had limited mobility and the plan addressed ways to help her move out of her bed safely; another had a skin condition issue and the care plan addressed such things as turning the patient over on a two-hour schedule.
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Minot State University nursing student Bethany Iverson worked on a research project showing an event that should never happen in a hospital setting.
Second-semester nursing students like Bethany Iverson wrote a research paper on sentinel events or things that should never happen in a hospital setting.
Iverson researched the case of a 16-year-old girl who died after her she was given opioids. The nurse who gave her the medication failed to notice that the girl's condition precluded giving her the medication. Iverson's research included steps that the nurse could have taken, such as talking with the patient to find out how she was feeling, assessing her vital signs or getting a doctor to examine her before giving her medication. Iverson said students in the class researched cases found on a website that lists sentinel events. It was a challenging assignment, but fun, too, and Iverson said this is a mistake she is not likely to make as a nurse.
Other nursing students also showcased their research over the semester.
One group of nursing students studied which post-flood illnesses are presenting in the health care setting more often than usual; another group did an organizational chart project on alleviating bed sores in a hospital setting. Another group looked at three areas of Minot with compromised sewer systems in the aftermath of the flood.