Reflections
SMALL PROJECT , BIG IMPACT By Kaela Hodge , Kendall Jones , and Paige Lasiter
As second semester junior nursing students , our class was assigned the dreaded “ group project ” for our Research and Evidence-Based Practice class . Most of us viewed this class as a break from our clinical courses , but we were not looking forward to working in a group to get a project completed . Once the project was finished , we were to present it as a poster presentation at a research symposium at the end of the semester . Prior to this class , we had difficulty understanding the relevance of research to our future role as a BSN RN . Fortunately , we were encouraged to form a group based on a clinical interest . Our group came together based on a common clinical interest in childhood cancer and its effect on patients and their families .
Cancer has affected so many people in our community and our world ; it is a topic that hits close to home . Each of us came to this group with different stories that inspired us to explore childhood cancer . Most of us had close family members who had been impacted by cancer ’ s dark grip . Diving into cancer research , particularly types affecting children , brought up many concerns . According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization ( 2021 ), it is estimated that 15,780 children will be diagnosed with cancer in a single year . After learning this sobering fact , our group thought about how we could raise awareness about coping strategies for children and their families . First , we had to do some digging to find out if any hospital-based programs were offered in our area , and if so , what services they provide . We combed through three research trials to find types of coping strategies that are beneficial for such programs . The studies we investigated found , ( 1 ) families that were better educated on coping strategies held more positive thoughts , ( 2 ) a child ’ s coping depended on how the family handled the diagnosis as well , and ( 3 ) quality of life was improved when coping interventions were implemented . As a group , we learned so much
about the impact of cancer and how coping education programs help families . Unfortunately , they have yet to be established on a wide-scale basis . We learned how important research is to supporting interventions to help patients and their families , and we eagerly created a poster to disseminate the results of our findings .
One day before the research symposium , a group member picked up our poster from a local print shop . As it was being pulled from the machine , the clerk who was handling the poster stopped and began to read it . After some perusing , she asked questions about our research and what prompted us to choose the topic of childhood cancer . As we spoke a little bit more , this nice lady began to get emotional . She opened up and explained that her son had passed away from leukemia , and how difficult it was for her following his diagnosis . She also stated that she was in denial for a long period after his death , unable to grieve properly . She wished there had been grief support or coping programs in place at the hospital from the diagnosis onward . She thanked our team for caring enough to explore the research and bring awareness to a topic that frequently gets overlooked . She said our project gave her hope that one day these research findings will be implemented . The love and sadness in her voice were palpable as we listened to her story . Knowing our poster elicited a serendipitous encounter with someone outside of the university made the time we spent on our research project worth it . Hearing the clerk ’ s story made us realize that even our small project could make a big impact ! •
Paige Lasiter , Kendall Jones , and Kaela Hodge are senior nursing students at the University of Central Arkansas . With a shared passion for pediatric oncology , they came together to complete a research project with the goal of promoting awareness of the need for grief and coping programs for pediatric cancer patients and their families . •
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