Researching Nurses as Change Agents in Confronting Opioid Epidemic
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. , April 27, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board are pleased to announce that Kathleen Neville, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Seton Hall University College of Nursing has been awarded a 2022-2023 Fulbright US Scholar Award by the US-UK Fulbright Commission. As a Fulbright UK Scholar, Neville will conduct a mixed-method research investigation exploring nursing students' perceptions of individuals with opioid use disorders.
Conducting research in Scotland expands Neville's current work, which investigates nursing students' knowledge, attitudes and stigma towards individuals with opioid use disorders in the United States. Her study will take place at the Edinburgh Napier University School of Health and Social Care.
"Professor Neville's Fulbright Award provides a wonderful example of how our stellar faculty are increasing our academic distinction by advancing research and scholarship as they foster international collaboration and interdisciplinarity, equity and inclusion, thereby enhancing our reputation as a home for great minds," said Katia Passerini, Ph.D., Provost and Executive Vice President.
During this period of escalating opioid and substance use, individuals with opioid use disorders have been stigmatized and negatively characterized as morally weak and defective. Health professionals have been reported to have negative attitudes towards working with individuals with opioid use disorders, resulting in suboptimal care. Nurses as frontline providers of care can be change agents to influence attitudes and knowledge related to opioid use disorders.
"Addiction is a very difficult condition to treat and requires an interprofessional focus. Through her grants and research initiatives, Kathleen is devoted to preparing practitioners to provide the best evidence to care for this escalating population. Attention to disadvantage and marginalized populations is very much needed to confront this epidemic. Kathleen is passionate about facilitating and mentoring nurses in the conduct of scholarly inquiry to guide practice. I applaud her research, which will make a difference in the lives of those vulnerable and underserved populations and in treating this major health problem in the future," said Dean Marie Foley, Ph.D., R.N., College of Nursing.
Neville is an experienced nurse educator with an extensive background in both undergraduate and graduate education with a focus on research, evidence-based practice and curriculum development. She is a graduate of New York University where she obtained both a Ph.D. and master's degree in Nursing, and a B.S. in Nursing from Rutgers College of Nursing. Prior to joining Seton Hall College of Nursing in January 2018, she was a full tenured professor in the School of Nursing at Kean University and taught in the R.N.-B.S.N., master's and Ph.D. programs. Previous teaching experiences include Yale University and Rutgers University.
"While there's a great deal of academic prestige that comes with any Fulbright appointment, the competition for an award from the UK Fulbright Commission is at the highest levels. Dr. Neville's UK Fulbright is so prestigious that it would be a career highlight for any American scholar. It speaks highly of the quality of her scholarship and the reputation of Seton Hall University's Nursing program," said James Kimble, Ph.D., professor of communication and the arts, Fulbright Teaching Scholar at Croatia's University of Rijeka, and University Fulbright Award liaison.
In 2018, Seton Hall University College of Nursing and the School of Health and Medical Sciences, and the Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine were awarded a three-year Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration Grant to address the opioid epidemic. Neville served as principal investigator and one of three project directors, in collaboration with SAMHSA grant team members, to provide nurse practitioner, medical and physician assistant students with the opportunity to receive state of the art didactic and clinical training to prescribe medication-assisted treatment (MAT), the gold standard treatment for individuals with opioid use disorders.
In 2021, the group received a new three-year SAMHSA grant, Expanded Interprofessional Medication-Assisted Treatment Training Program. In addition to training increased numbers of nurse practitioner, physician assistant and medical students on opioid use disorders and medication-assisted treatment, this project addresses health disparities and social determinants of health of underserved, vulnerable populations in urban communities with high mortality rates due to overdose.
Previous scientific inquiry addressed challenges in nursing practice and further testing of her instrument, the Nurses' Perception of Patient Rounding Scale© (Neville,2010). Neville has been primary author to numerous nursing studies in refereed journals examining compassion fatigue, rounding practices, substance abuse, the opioid epidemic, servant leadership, fatigue, noise mitigation, psychosocial oncology and uncertainty in illness. She is the author of the pediatric/adolescent text, Mature Beyond Their Years: The Impact of Cancer on Adolescent Development.
The Fulbright Program aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. Fulbright alumni have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, CEOs, and university presidents, as well as leading journalists, artists, scientists, and teachers. They include 60 Nobel Laureates, 88 Pulitzer Prize winners, 70 MacArthur Fellows, 16 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Since its inception in 1946, more than 400,000 "Fulbrighters" have participated in the Program.
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ABOUT SETON HALL UNIVERSITY
One of the country's leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall has been showing the world what great minds can do since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 80 rigorous majors, Seton Hall's academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, US News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek. Seton Hall, which embraces students of all religions, prepares its graduates to be exemplary servant leaders and caring global citizens. Its attractive main campus is located in suburban South Orange, New Jersey, and is only 14 miles by train, bus or car to New York City, offering a wealth of employment, internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities. A new independent economic analysis of the University found that Seton Hall provides a significant impact on New Jersey's economy, totaling over $1.6 billion annually and creating and sustaining nearly 10,000 jobs. The university's nationally recognized School of Law is prominently located in downtown Newark. The University's Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) campus in Clifton and Nutley, N.J. opened in the summer of 2018. The IHS campus houses Seton Hall's College of Nursing, its School of Health and Medical Sciences as well as Hackensack Meridian Health's Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. For more information, visit http://www.shu.edu.
Media Contact
Laurie Pine, Director of Media Relations, Seton Hall University, 9733782638, [email protected]
SOURCE Seton Hall University
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