On April 25 and 26, the Department of Nursing at St. Francis College (SFC) sponsored its first-ever Nursing Research Days.

Hosted virtually, via Zoom, the two-day event consisted of a series of educational webinars open to SFC students majoring in nursing. The highlight was the Nursing Capstone Research Symposium, led by seniors pursuing a pre-licensure B.S. degree in nursing. Topic areas included disparities in health care, telehealth, maternal and child health, female genital mutilation, hospital-related issues, nurse burn-out and mental health. Assistant professor Mary Kate Kasler, D.N.P., R.N., guided the seniors in selecting their research topic and developing a hypothesis.

“Capstone courses serve as a bridge between the last year of schooling and the beginning of a career in nursing,” explained Patricia Facquet, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor of nursing and chair of SFC’s nursing department. “The focus can be research in clinical practice or developing an investigation using evidence-based practice, allowing students to apply research and experiential evidence toward solving a health care problem.”

According to Facquet, Nursing Research Days proved successful for both organizers and attendees. “We hope it will become an annual event,” she said.