Investigator: Andrew Thomas Reyes, Ph.D., MSN, RN

Goal: To refine a mindfulness smartphone app for college student veterans with post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Participation Details:

• Participants must be a UNLV student and a veteran aged 18 years old or older.

About the study:

The objective of the study is to integrate the Multi-Theory Model of Health Behavior Change in order for the mindfulness app to be effective in producing behavior change among college student veterans with post-traumatic stress symptoms. We hope to learn the effective tasks and activities demonstrating the Multi-Theory Model of Health Behavior Change that college student veterans with post perceive to be necessary for a mindfulness app for post-traumatic stress.

Investigator: Hyunhwa 'Henna' Lee, Ph.D., MSN, APRN, PMHNP-BC, FAAN

Goal: To understand how a 14-day-long home-based dual-task exercise can help with walking and other functions after mild traumatic brain injury or concussion.

Participation Details:

• Participants must be adults aged 18-40 years old with a recent concussion between 3-24 months ago.

About the study:

Our Brain & Walk Exercise Every Day (BraW-Day) will be at home with 15 minutes every day for 14 days. After having a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), some people may experience a change in walking and/or other functions, such as cognitive or visual functions. We would like to test how the BraW-Day exercise may help these individuals with such changes.

Investigator: Jinyoung Kim, Ph.D., RN, FAAN

Goal: To examine whether epigenetic alterations in circadian genes and objective sleep quality measurements can be used as potential biomarkers to determine individual differences in adapting to shift work and predict the risk for future cognitive impairment.

Participation Details:

• Participants must be night shift workers and/or day shift workers aged 40 years old and up.

About the study:

Shift workers, especially those on night shifts, face an increased risk of cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately, we lack a sensitive biomarker to assess adaptation to shift work and predict future cognitive decline. A proposed study aims to establish a cohort of active and retired shift workers, investigating whether sleep quality measures and epigenetic changes in circadian genes correlate with shift work tolerance and cognitive function. The findings could inform personalized strategies to prevent Alzheimer’s disease early in life.

Investigator: Nirmala Lekhak, Ph.D., RN

Goal: To evaluate the feasibility and examine the effectiveness of implementing Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM) among older adults.

Participation Details:

• Participants must be adults aged 50 years old or older living in Southern Nevada.

About the study:

The study will examine the preliminary effectiveness of the LKM in increasing positive emotions such as compassionate love. It will also examine the preliminary impact of the LKM in reducing loneliness and improvement in cognitive function and mental health.

Investigator: Rebecca Benfield, CNM, Ph.D., FACNM

Goal: To test the Patient Health Engagement Model in end stage renal disease patients who are using hemodialysis as a lifesaving intervention, to examine the association of patient engagement and patient adherence to hemodialysis guidelines, and to examine whether the patient engagement level can predict patient adherence.

Participation Details:

• Participants must be adults aged 18 years old or older; diagnosed with kidney failure; and have been on dialysis for at least 90 days.

About the study:

Patient engagement will be operationalized and measured by the Patient Health Engagement scale (PHE-S) and the Patient Activation Measure (PAM-13). Patient adherence will be operationalized based upon the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF-KDOQI) guidelines, specifically focusing on interdialytic weight gain and shortening treatments.

Investigator: Jacqueline Killian, Ph.D., MHR, MSN, NPD-BC

Goal: To examine the effectiveness of the Stress Management and Resilience Training (SMART) in increasing resilience in a selected population of U.S. Air Force personnel in real-world settings.

Participation Details:

• Participants must be Air Force personnel from Nellis Air Force Base.

About the study:

The Stress Management and Resilience Training (SMART) focuses on improving the practices of gratitude, mindful presence, kindness, and developing a resilient mindset. SMART includes practices that focus on six, evidence-based factors (positive coping, positive affect, positive thinking, realism, altruism, and behavioral control) that promote individual-level psychological resilience.

Investigator: Dieu-My Tran, Ph.D., RN, CNE

Contact: dieu-my.tran@unlv.edu or limjucow@unlv.nevada.edu

Goal: To better understand what staff nurses believe is important to teach nursing students about the profession and why, which will ultimately provide evidence of effectiveness in clinical teaching to prepare nursing students for the profession.

Participation Details:

• Participants must be staff nurses.

About the study:

The proposed research identifies the need to dissect the traditional clinical education model to better understand its effectiveness in preparing nursing students for practice. Staff nurses who teach nursing students influence the student’s formation to nursing; therefore, it is important to understand staff nurses’ perceptions of how enculturation prepares nursing students. With this discernment, nursing professionals would acquire insight into the culture of nursing and its effect on clinical teaching.

Investigator: Jennifer Vanderlaan, Ph.D., MPH, CNM

Contact: jennifer.vanderlaan@unlv.edu or foxd3@unlv.nevada.edu

Goal: To determine if nurse submission of an assignment despite objection identifies unsafe staffing; as evidenced by untoward patient outcomes.

Participation Details:

• None.

About the study:

The study focuses on the number of substantiated Assignment Despite Objection forms submitted by clinical nurses working in various clinical cost centers. The hypothesis is that clinical cost centers with more substantiated Assignment Despite Objection submissions will have higher rates of untoward patient quality and safety events and higher direct care costs. The deidentified data will be provided by a UMC data analyst directly accountable for such data sets.