The UT School of Nursing teamed up with the New Mexico State University (NMSU) for a four-week Internship Program in ummer 2001 to promote research in minority health issues and recruit more Hispanic and Native American students to careers in nursing research. An administrative supplemental award from the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) funded the program, which included six nursing undergraduate students from NMSU and four from UT-Austin. Compared with other health care disciplines, the number of minorities in nursing is high, said Daniel O'Neal, a spokesman for the Institute. "Nursing doesn't do badly in terms of recruiting minorities, but we can do better," he said. About 2 percent of registered nurses in the US are Hispanic and 86.6 are white.

The program, which ended August 10, paired each of the 10 students

with a senior researcher in the School of Nursing and offered students the opportunity to take an active role in all aspects of research, said Marty Meraviglia, a research associate in the School of Nursing and the coordinator of the Internship Program. "They learned all the different aspects of research and the theory involved in it," Meraviglia said. "They also learned about things like recruiting participants, which is a very important part of a project, and keeping those participants in the program." The students participated in interviewing subjects, recording and analyzing data and interpreting results.

The research projects focused largely on Mexican American health disparities, such as lack of health care, inconsistent care and an increasing rate of diabetes. Projects also included a study of postpartum weight-gain among low-income women and issues surrounding sexually transmitted diseases among Hispanic women. One reason NINR decided to fund the program was to offer summer assistance to researchers working on minority health issues. A second objective was satisfied by offering the internship to Hispanic and Native
American students. Daniel O'Neal, a spokesman for the Institute stated, "It makes sense that if you're in a community with a higher minority population, then the research you are going to do will be on members of your community."

Elena Silva-Velarde, a nursing senior at NMSU, said she attended the

program to learn more about the field of nursing research. "I didn't really know much about research and it sounded really interesting, and it was also a good opportunity for me to see a different town and learn something new," Silva-Velarde said. She added that while she would prefer to work in a clinical setting after graduation, she'd like to come back to research later in life. "I'm learning a lot and I've been seeing things here that I've never been exposed to before...everything is starting to come together into a bigger picture for me." Patricia Gonzalez, a UT student, said she worked on research projects before, but the internship program expanded her involvement. Gonzalez stated, "You get caught up in the same kind of research, but this let me see other people's projects and see just what the School of Nursing is doing."

Adapted from Daily Texan Article by Rachel Stone,
Daily Texan Staff, The Daily Texan, August 7, 2001

Abstracts of Summer Interns Accepted For Student Poster Presentations at the Southern Nursing Resaerch Society
16th Annual Conference, February 7-9, 2002, San Antonio, Texas

• An examination of the quality of life in patients perceiving treatment for non-small cell lung cancer
  • Randy Walker, BSN Student, Lauri D. John, PhD, RN, CNS, The University of Texas at Austin, School of Nursing, Cancer, Fatigue, Symptom Management
• The Relationship of Postpartum Weight Gain and Physical Activity: A Correlational Study
  • Amber Kozak, The University of Texas at Austin, School of Nursing
• Emotional Well-being Among Aurvivors of Childhood Polio
  • Melanie Long, Alexa Stuifbergen, PhD, RN, FAAN, The University of Texas at Austin, School of Nursing, Health Promotion, Chronic Illness, Quality of Life
• Gender Differences Among Mexican Americans With Diabets
  • Velia Michelle Enriquez, BSN Student, The University of Texas at Austin, School of Nursing, Diabetes, Mexican American, Education
    
• Nursing Research in Health Disparities: Participant Out-comes of a Research Internship
  • Elena Silva-Velarde, Michelle Enriquez, Patty Gonzalez, Denise Griffin, Maria Cantu Kind, Amber Kozak, Melanie Long, Nina Ortiz, Angie Page, Randy Walker
    Alexa Stuifbergen, RN, PhD, FAAN, The University of Texas at Austin, School of Nursing, Nurse Scientist, Health Disparities, Training Progra