Mary Tedesco-Schneck

Funding to Improve Mental Health/Resilience of Maine’s Children/Adolescents in Collaboration MAAP

Description: I am currently executing a $20,000 grant awarded through MAAP to deliver cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to children and adolescents with mild to moderate depression and/or anxiety through School-Based Health Clinics. CBT is a recommended first-line treatment for children and adolescents with anxiety and depression. Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE®) created by Dr. Bernadette Melnyk, is an innovative, evidence-based program that utilizes manual-based CBT for children and adolescents with mild to moderate anxiety and depression.  This initiative will be completed by July 2023.

This current initiative is the second $20,000 grant I was awarded through MAAP to deliver COPE®.  The first grant was a telehealth initiative in which ten providers were trained to provide CBT utilizing the 7-week COPE® manual-based CBT via telehealth in 25–30 minute sessions.

Funder: MAAP

Amount: 2nd $20,000 grant.

Impact on community: In a recent publication, it has been reported that mortality rates as a result of suicide in children and adolescents (10 to 19 years of age) has increased nationally by 69.5% since 2019 (Woolf, 2023). Maine youth suffer from some of the highest rates of anxiety and depression in the country. Approximately half of Maine youth do not receive treatment for their diagnoses (Maine Children’s Alliance, 2021). 

Learn more: As a member of the board of MAAP, I serve as a member of MAAP School Health Committee which includes representation from the School Nurse Consultant for the Maine Department of Education.  Through the MAAP, I am actively seeking funding sources to pilot COPE® TEEN “a manualized 15-session cognitive-behavioral skills building (CBSB) healthy lifestyle intervention program for 12- to 18-year-old adolescents, designed to be integrated into a student’s health course or taught in group and individual sessions in primary care or specialty care settings. The 15-session program also incorporates education and skills building on healthy nutrition, physical activity, self-esteem, coping with stress, problem-solving, and goal setting. (https://www.cope2thrive.com/)

Research **Did not seek funding**

A Holistic Approach to Testing to Foster Success

Description: The purpose of this study is to describe sophomore-level nursing students’ experience with a new holistic approach to testing for an undergraduate health assessment course and to determine if this approach improves exam grade scores. It is based on the article I published this year attached.

Learn more: Innovative Approach to Testing

Sean Sibley

(Shares this grant with Dr. Strout and Dr. Herbert)

AgingME Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program – University of Maine Sub-Awardee

Funder: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) 

Impact on community: AgingME aims to create a more age-friendly health system by better preparing an age-capable workforce, transforming primary care practices and engaging and empowering older adults. The School of Nursing developed an unfolding case study presented through simulation using standardized patients to educate and evaluate family nurse practitioner students in older adult care competencies. 

Learn more: Google Scholar  Research Gate  LinkedIn

Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) Traineeship

Funder: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) 

Amount: $1.9 million, four-years (2023-2027)

Impact on community: The mission of the Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) Program is to increase the number of primary care nurse practitioners prepared to provide primary care services, mental health and substance use disorder care, and/or maternal health care. Maine needs more racially diverse providers and to support FNP students already living and working in medically underserved and rural communities.  At UMaine, the ANEW grant will provide tuition and other eligible support (stipend grant) to FNP students, build academic-clinical partnerships to facilitate clinical training, and continue to develop and sustain clinical faculty and preceptors.

Learn more: UMaine News

Dr. Kelley Strout

WellNurse: Wellness in Nursing Education to Promote Resilience and Reduce Burnout

Funder: HRSA Health Resources Services Administration

Impact on the community: The U.S. faces a nursing shortage driven by a burnout epidemic among nurses and nursing students. Nursing students are an integral population to fuel the nursing workforce at high risk of burnout and increased rates of perceived stress. WellNurse, is a holistic, interdisciplinary, multidimensional longitudinal project and research study that examines evidence-based interventions intended to reduce burnout and increase resilience among graduate and undergraduate nursing students. UMaine Nursing aims to produce experientially and academically prepared nurses who are resilient to the demands of a complex healthcare system and prepared to provide evidence-based care to the state, nation, and beyond.

Amount: $1.5 million, three years (2022-2024)

Promoting Diversity in Nursing Education 

Funder: HRSA Health Resources Services Administration

Impact on the community:  UMaine Nursing and Northernlight Health are working synergistically to transform the workforce to develop an ecosystem that attracts and supports nursing students and faculty from populations typically underrepresented at UMaine and in the state’s healthcare workforce.  The program aims to produce new nurses who are prepared to meet social and cultural needs, as well as clinical healthcare needs, of a broad range of patient communities. 

Amount: $1.7 million, four years (2021-2024)

Dr. Valerie Herbert

Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) (2019-2024).

Description: Not Principle Investigator but was a SON Partner with Sean Sibley. Focus was to develop and integrate four older adult simulations in the Family Nurse Practitioner track, and create a Standardized Patient Program.

Funder: Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

Amount: Total grant was for $3.75 million throughout different Maine healthcare and educational settings, but SON was awarded $69,910.

Learn more: Herbert, V. & Sibley, S. (2022). Addressing age friendly health system competencies in FNP education with simulation-based learning. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 64, 10-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2021.11.006  

Augmented reality heart simulators for combined visual and haptic medical training in low-resource settings. (2018-2019)

Description: Co-Investigator. In collaboration with the UMaine VEMI Lab, developed an Augmented Reality (AR) app to teach congestive heart failure to junior-level nursing students. Learning outcome data collected.

Funder: UMaine Research Reinvestment Fund Student Award (RRF)

Amount: Awarded $89,900 

Learn more: Current proposal submitted to VEMI Lab to develop Virtual Reality(VR) simulations for junior-senior nursing students using the Oculus headsets. A pilot project will include student performance and clinical judgment learning data to be assessed using pre- and post-assessment of content.

Herbert, V., Perry, R.J., LeBlanc, C., Haase, K., Corey, R., Giudice, N.A., & Howell, C. (2021). Developing a smartphone app with augmented reality to support virtual learning of nursing students on heart failure. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 54, 77-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2021.02.003   

Alaris intravenous infusion pumps, educating nursing students. (2018-2019)

Description: Principal Investigator. Provided funding for much needed equipment for our nursing simulation labs.

Funder: UMaine Scholarly Materials and Equipment Award

Amount: Awarded $6,505

The Bangor Savings Bank Faculty Development Fund And The Lyndon Paul LoRusso Memorial Faculty Development Fund

Description: Principal Investigator. Provided funding as new faculty for attendance to the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) for podium presentation in Toronto, Canada.

Funder: Bangor Savings and Lyndon Paul LoRusso Memorial Faculty Development Fund (2018)

Amount: Awarded $2,000

Patient Simulation, effective evaluation of nursing student performance in multi-patient scenarios. (2017-2018)

Description: Principal Investigator. Development and integration of multi-patient simulation scenarios to assess nursing student clinical judgment and learning.

Funder: Faculty Research Fund – UMaine Summer Faculty Research Award.

Amount: Awarded $8,000

Learn more: Herbert, V., & Connors, H. (2016). Integrating an academic electronic health record: Challenges and success strategies. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 34(8), 345-354. https://doi.org/10.1097/CIN.0000000000000264