This week, College of Nursing faculty and staff earned university awards and national certification, delivered presentations at professional conferences, celebrated student academic achievements, were featured in news and media, and contributed to published research.
Awards
The Office of Undergraduate Studies awarded the Ivory Award for Advancing Student Success to Annastasia Beller, Mikayla Dalley, and Kristan Tunks. This new award was created to recognize Academic Advisors, Student Success Coaches, and Career Coaches who play a critical role in supporting students as they navigate the University of Utah.
Certification
Henri Sosa, Simulation Center Operations Specialist, earned recognition as a Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist® (CHSOS®) from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, the leading international body for advancing simulation-based education. The CHSOS credential recognizes professionals who demonstrate excellence in the technical, operational, and educational support required to deliver high-quality simulation experiences. Henri passed a 115-question examination and joins other team members – Debbie Boulter and Yvonne Bass – who hold CHSOS certification. Collectively their achievements highlight the Simulation Team’s ongoing commitment to superior education. As the Simulation Center expands and innovates in simulation-based education, these accomplishments further strengthen its mission to provide safe, effective, and immersive learning experiences for future nurses and healthcare providers.
Presentations
Faculty presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Informatics Association in Atlanta.
- Moderated by Elizabeth Umberfield, Tamara Macieira, Dr. Mollie Cummins, Robin Austin, and Ragnhildur Bjarnadottir presented on a panel titled Unlocking the Power of Nurse-Generated Data through Clinical Research Consortia. Dr. Cummins discussed the evolution of clinical research consortia and its implications for nursing research, highlighting the University of Utah’s contributions to PCORnet ® RECOVER EHR.
- Varsha Varkhedi, Kenrick Cato, David Albers, Dr. Victoria Tiase, Shalmali Joshi, Jennifer Thate, Kathryn Connell, Dr. William Hull, Amy Finnegan, and Sarah Rossetti delivered a podium presentation titled Translating Nursing Data into Computational Metrics: A Scoring Guideline for Inpatient Intravenous and Subcutaneous Insulin Management.
Dr. William Hull, Dr. Sharifa Al-Qaaydeh, Dr. Angie Fenton, Dr. Melody Krahulec, and Dr. Joshua Wall presented From Traditional Exams to Competency-based Benchmarking: Redesigning Course Grading to Student Mastery at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Transform 2025 in Anaheim.
Dr. Gwen Latendresse, Dr. Ryoko Kausler, Dr. Sara Simonsen, Dr. Eli Iacob, Dr. Marcia Williams, Dr. Uma Dorn, and Dr. Marcela Smid gave a podium presentation titled Therapeutic Effects of Community Connection vs. Content: A Mixed Methods, Randomized Controlled Trial of a Telehealth Group Intervention to Reduce Perinatal Depression Symptoms at the Marcé of North America 2025 Conference in Toronto.
Undergraduate students gave presentations at the Fall Undergraduate Research Symposium, held virtually.
- Addressing Vasomotor Symptoms Experience by Peri- and Postmenopausal Women with Menogap. Cate Monahan (Mentor: Dr. Lisa Taylor-Swanson)
- Developing Rapport and Goal-Oriented Care Among PMHNP Students: A Simulation Study. Laura Beckstrand (Mentor: Dr. Cynthia Garbett)
- Evaluating Simulation-Based Learning to Enhance Advanced Psychiatric Nursing Competencies. Erin Goodwyn (Mentor: Dr. Rebekah Perkins)
Student Recognition
Malek Alnajar successfully defended his dissertation titled Palliative and End-of-Life Care Utilization Among Persons with Serious Mental Illness and Multimorbidity: A Population-Based Analysis of Decedents and Their Families. Committee members were Dr. Caroline Stephens (Chair), Dr. Djin Tay, Dr. Eli Iacob, Dr. Katherine Ornstein, and Dr. Lynn Reinke.
Amy Mhatre-Owens successfully passed her oral and written exams and defended her proposal titled A Qualitative Study of the Experiences Among Individuals Being Treated for Perinatal Depression and Seeking Supplemental Resources. Committee members are Dr. Gwen Latendresse (Chair), Dr. Sara Simonsen, Dr. Alycia Bristol, Dr. Marcela Smid, and Dr. Ryoko Kausler.
In the Media
Callie Reed wrote a blog for the University of Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence titled How AI is Elevating Learning in Nursing Education. The blog highlights Dr. Chris Macintosh’s utilization of AI as a tool to successfully juggle the demands of teaching, mentoring, and conducting research as a faculty member. By implementing AI in his work, Dr. Macintosh is “creating a more supportive and efficient learning environment.”
Victoria Allen wrote How the new health etiquette is to try a chesty cough for Irish Daily Mail. Victoria quoted Dr. Jake Steenblik regarding a research paper titled A pilot study of coughing into the shirt to disrupt respiratory pathogen transmission that he co-authored earlier this year.
Publications
Bennion NR, Brower T, Ballard CR, Steenblik J, Lee KH, Egan TD, Swenson JD, Pace NL, Johnson KD. Single-syringe total intravenous anesthesia: In response [Response Letter to the Editor]. Anesth Anal. Epub ahead of print. DOI: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000007812
Lyon J, Huntsman A, Pavek A, Shen N, Palmer J, Weiss KL, Barry LA, Hamilton JL. Assessing representation of diverse skin tones in NP curricula. J Nurse Pract. 2026;22(1):105616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2025.105616