Tracey Celeste Springer, MSN, RN
Home Institution: Department of Nursing, Barbados Community College, Bridgetown, Barbados
Time at DUSON: January 6, 2020 - April 16, 2020
Mentor: Dr. Valerie Sabol
Research: Her research focus is on developing a critical care syllabus.
Why DUSON? Barbados Community College has enjoyed a partnership with DUSON for over 10 years providing opportunities for students to enrich their global perspectives in nursing. Nursing faculty of the community college have enjoyed this benefit. DUSON has kept the staff current about teaching and learning perspectives; therefore, DUSON was the best choice for the project.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: The adjustments were minor, the transition to North Carolina went smoothly. DUSON faculty were accommodating and made sure I had access to all persons and technology that could assist with the project. The buss pass facilitated travel to DUSON and around Durham region which allowed me to enjoy social activities in North Carolina.
Future Plans: Implementation of the critical care syllabus by January 2021. The goal is to produce an accredited critical care programme for Barbados and the region.
Gian Carlo S. Torres, PhD, RN
Home Institution: University of Santo Tomas - College of Nursing, Manila, Philippines
Time at DUSON: September 22, 2019 - December 6, 2019
Mentor: Dr. Michael V. Relf
Research: His research focus is on the development and testing of the concept of surgical readiness to promote positive surgical outcomes. While in Duke he aims to enhance his knowledge and skills in research and further advancing his work on surgical readiness. Through the program Dr. Torres will work on publishing his readiness model testing, conduct a systematic review and learn more about nursing intervention development.
Why DUSON? DUSON has been a partner of UST for almost five years and the positive influence of DUSON to faculty development, nursing leadership and innovation has greatly impacted the University of Santo Tomas and Nursing in the Philippines.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: No major adjustment issue was encountered because the program allowed me to avail various services and my mentor and OGACHI took good care of me from living arrangements, to transportation adjustment and most importantly, to the culture and norms of the organization and North Carolina as well.
Future Plans: Translate the knowledge and skills on systematic review development, publication and interventional research development acquired to the faculty of the University and to the Nurses in the Philippines through mentoring and faculty development activities. Continue working on various collaborative projects with Duke and serve as the link between Duke and the Philippines.
Antoinette Odette Barton-Gooden, RN, MScN, BSc, PhD Candidate
Home Institution: The University of the West Indies, School of Nursing, Jamaica, West Indies
Time at DUSON: September 3, 2019 - September 27, 2019
Mentor: Drs. Paula Tanabe and Valerie Howard
Research: Dr. Barton-Gooden's main research currently focuses on "Health-related Quality of Life in Adult Smokers and Non-Smokers with Sickle Cell Disease." This is her doctoral work, but will guide her programme of research beyond the study to enhance the wellbeing of this population.
Why DUSON? DUSON is world-renown for nurse leaders, educators and innovative impactful research. This impressive legacy is inspirational for me. After meeting Professor Tanabe over two years ago, it confirmed to me that Duke is a place I wanted to establish a partnership with to strengthen my research skills and leadership development.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: The willingness of persons to share their knowledge.
Future Plans: There are many winning strategies at DUSON that I will be integrating in my teaching, public service activities and to guide my research trajectory. I have already begun collaborating with the faculty and hope to continue this relationship in sickle cell research, smoking cessation and leadership.
You Lee Yang, PhD, RN
Home Institution: Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea
Time at DUSON: August 1, 2018 - August 17, 2019
Mentor: Dr. Eun-Ok Im
Research: Dr. Yang's research was to develop role transition situation-specific theory for clinical nurses in South Korea. This research was funded by Korean National Research Foundation as the postdoctoral fellowship program. She also did her research on exploring association between midlife women's menopausal symptoms and type 2 diabetes mellitus with Dr. Im's research team.
Why DUSON? DUSON has tremendous internal and external sources for conducting nursing research and has expertise in situation-specific theory development.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: Expanded the view of nursing research by participating in NIH funded project, published/under-review of six papers, presented eight abstracts at the international conference with her mentor.
Future Plans: Currently doing research at Yonsei University College of Nursing with the new position as a research faculty member. She will continue developing SST and will also continue to collaborate with Dr. Im on progressing her research.
Souk Young Kim, PhD
Home Institution: Ejlji University, South Korea
Time at DUSON: September 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019
Mentor: Dr. Eun-Ok Im
Research: Dr. Kim's research focus is on workers' health. She has been researching workplace violence, job stress, emotional labor, and workplace health promotion. At DUSON, she has been doing concept analysis of microaggression for workers.
Why DUSON? DUSON is known as a prestigious university, so I wanted to learn about the advanced nursing education system at DUSON.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: The many online lectures were very impressive.
Future Plans: Develop an intervention to improve the working environment of the worker, and to carry out an experimental study to apply the intervention. Also, to contribute to make better working environment for workers in South Korea in the future.
Paulo Lino Kidayi, MSc, BScN, ADNE, RN
Home Institution: Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCo), United Republic of Tanzania
Position: Associate Dean Faculty of Nursing
Time at DUSON: September 5, 2018 - December 7, 2018
Mentor: Dr. Marilyn Oermann
Research: Nursing Students' Stress in International Experiences: Differences across Countries. This project involves seven universities from Africa, Europe, USA, Asia and Middle East. With this knowledge, nurse educators can better develop experiences to prepare students for studying in a foreign country. Moreover, I was involved in the project on "Citation of Predatory Journals." The linked supervisor is an experienced scholar in Nursing Education.
Why DUSON? KCMUCo has a long-standing collaboration with DUSON embarking into development of a nurse practitioner program in the United Republic of Tanzania. The Ministry of Health Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children of united republic of Tanzania have approved this project.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: Observation of the different and diverse cultural background in the USA, and moreover, adapting during the course of the program.
Future Plans: Interprofessional working relationship is the key concept at DUSON thus, I shall continue to work closely with DUSON staff in various projects whether short or long-term to serve the global mobility. Acquired knowledge and skills shall be transformed at KCMUCo to learners as well as sharing with faculty members and translated into global education intended services.
Deepak Y. Kamath, MBBS, MD
Home Institution: St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India
Time at DUSON: June 5, 2018 - September 25, 2018
Mentor: Dr. Bradi B. Granger
Research: Dr. Kamath is researching ways to improve patient/caregiver self-care, including medication adherence to improve outcomes among patients with heart failure. Dr. Kamath hopes to achieve these through a combination of task sharing and mobile health technology, underpinned by relevant behavior change theories.
Why DUSON? Our medical school has an ongoing strong collaboration with Duke University in cardiovascular sciences research. Dr. Granger is my external mentor on my current fellowship research project. She provides excellent mentorship and innovative direction to the research, while being friendly and easy to work with.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: Adjusting to a few cultural norms that were new to me but not difficult to adapt to.
Future Plans: Dr. Kamath will continue collaboration via the current and other research projects. He will publish papers with Dr. Granger and participate in collaborative grant applications. He also hopes to visit Duke in the future on current and future projects.
Yuanyuan Yang, Lecturer, PhD Candidate, MSN, RN
Home Institution: Peking University School of Nursing, China
Time at DUSON: August 16, 2017 - August 16, 2018
Mentor: Dr. Debra Brandon
Research: Ms. Yang's research focus is on neonatal nursing as well as maternal and child health.
Why DUSON? Ms. Yang has the same research interest with Dr. Brandon. She seeks to learn the advanced research ideas and methods in the pediatric research area. Additionally, she wants to understand curriculum provision, and teaching approaches for courses specific to child health care in DUSON.
Future Plans: Ms. Yang will keep in touch with faculties in DUSON in the future in order to establish more deep and extensive collaboration in nursing research and education.
Sang Souk Kim, PhD, MSN, RN
Home Institution: Chung-Ang University, South Korea
Time at DUSON: June 1, 2017 - January 31, 2018
Mentor: Dr. Jennie De Gagne
Research: Dr. Kim is focused her research on simulation based nursing education and cybercivility of health professions. She is evaluating the effects of debriefing methods (instructor-led vs. peer-led) in simulation. She is researching cybercivility of health professions in Twitter and social media.
Why DUSON? Dr. Kim chose to come to DUSON for the cooperation and collaboration with Dr. De Gagne in her research area and has published studies.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: The biggest adjustment is learning new technologies related to education; however, they were valuable.
Future Plans: Dr. Kim hopes to continue to research nursing education such as simulation, student engagement, cybercivility, and continue to collaborate with Dr. De Gagne.
Ching-Yu Cheng, PhD, RN
Home Institution: Chang Gun University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Time at DUSON: February 1, 2017 - June 30, 2017
Mentor: Dr. Eun-Ok Im
Research: Dr. Cheng's research focuses on women's health and education. She had done bio-behavioral studies on perinatal health, developed online programs for women with infertility, and developed courses of clinical reasoning and information literacy, and designed and tested innovative pedagogies for nursing courses.
Why DUSON? DUSON has an excellent academic reputation and environment.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: Language barrier is the biggest challenge for internationals in the U.S.
Future Plans: Continuously conduct research on health promotion for women and innovative teaching strategies to enhance students' learning outcomes. In addition, she is also seeking opportunities for international collaboration in research and publications.
Yun Hu, PhD, RN
Home Institution: Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Nursing, China
Time at DUSON: August 28, 2016 - August 27, 2017
Mentor: Dean Marion E. Broome
Research: Dr. Hu focused her research on the development of interprofessional collaborative program in China (Broome). She also participated in the internet supportive intervention for a NIH-funded study of Asian breast cancer survivors (PI: Dr. Eun Ok Im).
Why DUSON? Dr. Hu chose to come to DUSON in order to collaborate with Dean Broome to analyze data from a study of health professional leaders about interprofessional collaboration.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: As a coordinator of Dr. Im's project, collaborating with team members from different countries well was the biggest adjustment.
Future Plans: Dr. Hu hopes to continue her interprofessional collaboration study with nurse educators and develop internet-based supportive care for young breast cancer patients by interprofessional team.
Lei "Grace" Cheng, MSN
Home Institution: Fudan University School of Nursing, China
Time at DUSON: September 26, 2016 - September 25, 2017
Mentor: Dean Marion E. Broome
Research: Ms. Cheng is focusing her research on implementation science in nursing and pediatric nursing.
Why DUSON? Ms. Lei chose to come to DUSON because of the cross-collaboration between the two schools and DUSON's strength in nursing research. DUSON also provided a supportive environment for my research and study.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: The communication style. The U.S. is more open and direct.
Future Plans: Ms. Lei will defend her doctoral dissertation in December 2017 and continue with her research work on pediatric oncology nursing. She also plans to stay in contact with her faculty mentor, Dean Marion E. Broome.
Liyan Gu, BSN, RN
Home Institution: Shanghai Changhai Hospital, China
Time at DUSON: March 21, 2016 – March 6, 2017
Mentor: Dr. Eleanor McConnell
Research: Ms. Gu is focusing her research on the development of quality indicators in geriatric care facilities. She is examining models for translating evidence into practice with the help of the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development.
Why DUSON? Ms. Gu chose to come to DUSON for the cooperation and collaboration in her research area.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: She said the diversity of cultures and the independence she has experienced have been the biggest adjustments during her stay.
Future Plans: Ms. Gu hopes to learn more about gerontological primary care nurse practitioner training in the U.S. She also hopes to establish a nursing quality evaluation system of geriatric hospitals to lay a foundation for the standardized management of aged care in China by learning from her experiences at foreign institutions.
Marjolein Iversen, PhD, RN
Home Institution: Bergen University College, Norway
Time at DUSON: February 18, 2016 – August 12, 2016
Mentor: Dr. Bei Wu (Dr. Iversen has also cooperated with Professor Ostbye at the Duke Global Health Institute.)
Research: Dr. Iversen’s main area of research focuses on diabetes. She is analyzing large datasets, health surveys and research studies to investigate the use of new technology in clinical practice.
Why DUSON? Dr. Iversen said she was honored to have the opportunity to continue her research at DUSON after previously collaborating with Dr. Elizabeth Clipp. In addition, she has also been a center investigator for the National Institute of Nursing for the past year.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: She said the hardest thing to adjust to was working to get Internet access in her apartment.
Future Plans: Dr. Iversen hopes to continue to collaborate on future research projects with Professor Bei Wu. She said it has also been a valuable experience to learn how education is organized at Duke and how online courses are offered. She believes there may be an interest between DUSON and Bergen University College to collaborate in the education of their students. Finally, Dr. Iversen is a supervisor for a PhD student who will complete part of her studies at DUSON in the fall.
Atiat Ahmed, MSN, RN
Home Institution: South Valley University School of Nursing, Egypt
Time at DUSON: October 20, 2015 – October 20, 2017
Mentor: Dr. Debra Brandon
Research: Ms. Ahmed is working on PhD research in neonatal nursing, specifically on the effect of premature infant oral intervention on feeding progression and length of hospital stay. She is trying to develop an intervention to enhance early oral feeding in premature infants.
Why DUSON? Ms. Ahmed chose to carry out her research at DUSON in order to collaborate with Dr. Brandon who is interested in the same research area and has published studies similar to her own.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: Ms. Ahmed said though in general she can speak English, using the language every day can be a challenge.
Future Plans: Ms. Ahmed hopes to work in the future on clinical practice in pediatrics or neonatal nursing in order to learn new and applicable practices.
Minjoo Hong, PhD, RN
Home Institution: Changshin University Department of Nursing, South Korea
Time at DUSON: September 1, 2015 - August 31, 2016
Mentor: Dr. Jennie De Gagne
Research: Dr. Hong is researching the social determinants of health and quality of life in Korean older adults in South Korea and Korean older adult immigrants in North Carolina. She is working to identify the relationship between social networks, health promotion lifestyle and health-related quality of life. She is working to determine if these factors have different relationships among Korean older adults in South Korea compared to Korean older adult immigrants in North Carolina.
Why DUSON? Dr. Hong chose to complete her research at DUSON because the work of Dr. De Gagne aligned with her own research interests, allowing her to gain mentored research experience.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: Dr. Hong noted that the American culture and the work environment were two of the biggest things to adjust to when transitioning from working in South Korea to the United States.
Future Plans: Dr. Hong said her visit at DUSON has allowed her to think and reflect on many things. First, she was able to encounter a variety of teaching methods by talking with DUSON faculty, auditing classes and attending conferences. Secondly, she found it very impressive to see faculty and students collaborate cooperatively. Lastly, she said through her work experience at DUSON, she witnessed short- and long-term projects progress systematically and observed how those with distinct roles increased their concentration levels on different aspects of the project. She said this experience will aid her work progress in Korea, and she will be able to apply what she learned to teaching her students.
Xiuquan Gong, PhD
Home Institution: East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
Time at DUSON: August 21, 2015 – August 20, 2016
Mentor: Dr. Bei Wu
Research: Dr. Gong’s research focuses on the mental health of older adults and Medicare policy. While at DUSON, Dr. Gong will: conduct an in-depth comparison of the targeted function of medical institutions in different countries; investigate the respective characteristics of targeted elderly patients in different medical institutions in America; conduct research on the detailed process, convenience and risk of cross-level referral processes among medical institutions for elderly patients; implement cross-country and comparative empirical research on medical services for the elderly; and conduct an assessment of the current situation and problems of elderly medical services systems in China.
Why DUSON? Dr. Gong chose to conduct his research at DUSON because of Duke University’s world-renowned reputation and academics and also for the opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Wu who has extensive knowledge and experience in researching the elderly.
Biggest Adjustment in the U.S.: He said the hardest thing to adjust to has been communicating everyday with the English language.
Future Plans: Dr. Gong hopes to continue to research global health policy and continue to collaborate with Duke University.
Roy Thompson, MscN, BScN (Hons), CCN, RGN
Position: Assistant lecturer
Home Institution: University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica
Time at DUSON: July 6 - July 31, 2015
Mentor: Dr. Eleanor McConnell
Observation: Mr. Thompson’s goal was to acquire a greater perspective of gerontology practice and teaching methodologies to help give him a global perspective of gerontology nursing.
Future Plans: He plans to enhance the application of evidence-based knowledge and practices into baccalaureate nursing education at the University of the West Indies.
Anne Sofie Helvik, PhD, RN
Position: Research scientist
Home: Trondheim, Norway
Time at DUSON: June 19 - August 8, 2015
Research Partners: Drs. Kirsten Corazzini and Truls Ostbye
Research: Dr. Helvik collaborated on a manuscript related to quality of life in older adults with and without depression.
Future Plans: Dr. Helvik hopes to identify other areas of research collaboration with DUSON.
Yu Jen Loo, RN
Position: Master of Science nursing student and clinical senior staff nurse at the National Heart Centre, Singapore
Home Institution: National University of Singapore, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies
Time at DUSON: May 11 - 22, 2015
Mentors: Drs. Bradi B. Granger and Louise Saladino
Observation: Ms. Loo aimed to gain specific knowledge to enhance the developmental role of an advanced nurse practitioner specializing in cardiology.
Future Plans: Ms. Loo hopes to develop a program at her home institution that focuses on improving health outcomes for patients following acute coronary syndrome events.
Zhijing “Lisa” Xu, MSN, RN
Position: PhD candidate at Fudan University School of Nursing and lecturer at the School of Nursing at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Home: Shanghai, China
Time at DUSON: January 19, 2015 - January 19, 2016
Mentor: Dr. Kirsten Corazzini
Research: Ms. Xu planned to further her understanding of the potential role of advanced nursing practice in health care settings in China. She also strengthened her research knowledge and skills through mentored participation in research on nursing practice in long-term care.
Future Plans: Upon completion of her time at DUSON, Ms. Xu was able to contribute to the completion of an observational survey study of nursing practice in Shanghai, China.
Hao-wen Xu, PhD
Position: Associate professor
Home: The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University in Henan Province of China
Time at DUSON: January 1 - June 30, 2015
Mentor: Dr. Wei Pan
Research: Dr. Xu has conducted research in cerebrovascular disease and has studied pathogenesis and clinical treatment of cerebrovascular disease. At DUSON, he acquired advanced statistical modeling skills to analyze data.
Future Plans: Dr. Xu plans to use these statistical skills to analyze data collected in China in scholarly journals and disseminate his findings at the annual conference of the American Stroke Association.
Jinhee Park, PhD, RN
Position: Postdoctoral associate at Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON)
Home Institution: Catholic University of Korea
Time at DUSON: August 1, 2013 - July 31, 2015
Mentors: Drs. Debra Brandon and Diane Holditch-Davis
Research: Dr. Park’s research focused on supporting feeding difficulties in high-risk preterm infants with the overall goal of improving their health and developmental outcomes. To achieve this, she analyzed data from two NINR-funded studies to: 1) examine preterm infants’ sleep-wake state development and their association with the process of acquiring oral feeding competence during hospitalization; and 2) the relationship between preterm infants’ sleep-wake state before, during and after feeding and feeding regulation while infants are transitioning from half to full oral feeding.
Future Plans: Dr. Park began a new position as an assistant professor at the Boston College Connell School of Nursing on August 1, 2015.
Hudson Santos, Jr., PhD, RN
Position: Registered nurse in Brazil and the U.S.
Home Institution: University of Sao Paulo
Time at DUSON: August 1, 2013 - July 31, 2015
Mentors: Drs. Sharron Docherty and Diane Holditch-Davis Research: Dr. Santos worked as a postdoctoral researcher in a program of investigation related to psychological distress symptoms surrounding childbirth, early parenting and infant outcomes. He also developed a grant proposal, submitted to NIH, based on his research of the bio-behavioral bases of postpartum depressive and anxiety symptoms in Latino mothers and their partners by examining parental responses and the impact on infant developments.
Future Plans: Dr. Santos began a position as an assistant professor on the tenure track at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing on August 1, 2015.