Health and Human Services News

School of Nursing partners with Mercy for “Earn as You Learn” program

by

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened the need for nurses in hospitals across the country.

To help the shortage locally, Missouri State University’s School of Nursing is piloting a Mercy Hospital Springfield program called “Earn as You Learn.”

“The nursing shortage is currently great,” said Monika Feeney, interim director of the School of Nursing. “The program allows students the opportunity to earn money while completing clinical time and evaluate if they would like to work at Mercy post-graduation. It also allows the hospital to evaluate if they are interested in hiring the student.”

Program details

In the program, nursing students are compensated for clinical hours as Mercy co-workers. They can also work additional hours as an aide or a sitter.

“This program will enable our current nurses to invest in the next generation by showing them the ropes before they graduate from nursing school,” said Chelsea Pliler, clinical student coordinator at Mercy. “Not only will nursing students get real-world experience, they will be earning money they can put toward their education. The experience they will gain from this program will help them confidently transition from student to RN and decrease their orientation time.”

The program pilot begins fall 2021. By spring 2022, nursing students at the senior clinical level will have the opportunity to participate in Earn as You Learn.

“It is a wonderful collaboration that we are very excited about. It is beneficial for the students, the clinical site and the university,” Feeney said.

If successful, Mercy plans to open the program to more nursing schools.

Focus on improving health, not losing weight

by

Step by step: it’s a good mantra. It can help you make it through the day to day routine or refocus you on small goals when the challenges seem insurmountable.  

Dr. Sara Powell, assistant professor of kinesiology at Missouri State University, works on goal setting, motivation and the psychology of physical activity.

She has particularly focused on behavior change for individuals who’ve undergone bariatric surgery. 

The weight loss journey is tough, but the psychological hurdles are equally immense. 

What makes weight loss so hard

Powell encourages people to set goals not related to weight loss – goals that instead focus on health improvements. She uses the SMARTER acronym for these goals: specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, timely goals that you can evaluate and revise.  

Read transcript

What’s in a personality?

by

We often hear about personality types and tests, especially in the workplace.  

Many offices use tests like the NEO-PI or the Hexaco to evaluate how employees work and interact with each other.  

But what’s in a personality? Are our personalities permanent? Are they shaped by our experiences? How do we know personality tests are accurate? 

Dr. Amber Abernathy, associate professor of psychology, and Dr. Paul Deal, psychology department head, answer these questions and more in the July episode of the “Health Queries” podcast.  

“I’m kind of a nerd when it comes to psychology and personality, and it plays a big role in our everyday lives,” Abernathy said. “It involves everything — how you see the world, how you take in events, how you interact with other people, how you cope — so it’s important to know where you fall on the scale.” 

Listen to the episode

Looking at vaccine inequity in Missouri

by

As COVID-19 vaccines rolled out across the country, vaccination disparities across racial and ethnic lines became quite clear. 

“Current data shows the rates at which the Missouri population is being vaccinated: approximately 36% for white people, 29% for Black people, 43% for Hispanic people, and 56% for Asian people,” said Dr. Melissa Penkalski, associate professor of nursing at Missouri State University.  

What’s causing the difference? 

The vaccination disparity has many explanations, according to Penkalski. 

Some communities have risk factors that can make members more susceptible. This leads to some communities with higher incident or infection rates. 

“These factors include lack of access, living in crowded housing, working in essential fields, stress, and chronic health conditions,” Penkalski said.  

The state is working to combat vaccine inequity, Penkalski noted. Improving access, providing education and making the vaccine readily available helps to ease the disparity.  

Penkalski stresses that vaccine hesitancy can be attributed to a lack of information on the topic. Providing people with additional information and acknowledging their concerns and beliefs can help to overcome this challenge.  

Get vaccinated