Two Nursing Students Chosen to Present at National Conference

Two nursing students from Duquesne have been selected to participate in the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Wash.

Students Kelli S. Smith and Rebecca Deane will present their poster Should Hospitals Require Mandatory Influenza Vaccinations for All Healthcare Employees? Their work reflects a literature review, mentored by Assistant Nursing Professor Dr. Lichun (Rebecca) Chia, in light of the hospital trend to mandate that health care employees receive flu vaccinations.

Smith and Deane examined information reflecting that each year, about 24,000 patients die of the 150,000, on average, who are hospitalized with the flu virus. They also delved into infection rates among health care workers.

The NCUR is an annual interdisciplinary conference that promotes faculty-student collaborations on undergraduate research “as a vital component of higher education.” Students from international and national schools are selected to participate by an independent review committee.