
Nursing

…and the pursuit of happiness

Strength and success: Profiles of Na-ha-shnee graduates
Founded 25 years ago at Washington State University, Na-ha-shnee has given Native American high school students hands-on experience of the health care professions.
Many graduates of the Na-ha-shnee summer camp have gone on to successful health care careers, including Sarah Burke, Cheryl Ellenwood, Shian Kelly, Rhonda Martinez-McFarland, Shoshannah Palmenteer, and Hailey Wilson.
Sarah Burke: You are capable
Sarah Burke graduated with her bachelor’s in nursing from Washington State University in 2018—just in time to be greeted by a coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s been crazy!” says Burke of her nursing job at EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland. “I … » More …

Celebrating 30 years

Cannabis in WA state
The legalization of recreational cannabis in Washington state and Colorado in 2012 opened a box full of questions and debates about the drug and its related crop, hemp.
What is the effect on youth? Will crime go up? How does cannabis interact with other drugs and medicines? What health claims are accurate? How does the potency of cannabis affect mental health? These gaps, and many others, in our knowledge—combined with unverified claims by both proponents and opponents of legalized cannabis—make it difficult to find the best ways to regulate and manage the substance.
To answer the call, almost 100 Washington State University researchers have begun … » More …

A half century of care

Medicine that lands on all fours

Smart tech in senior living communities
Roschelle “Shelly” Fritz, assistant professor at the WSU College of Nursing in Vancouver, studies how “smart-home” technology can monitor the health and safety of senior citizens from afar. She’s part of an interdisciplinary team that includes WSU engineering professor Diane Cook and WSU psychology professor Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe.
Fritz ran an innovative pilot study that deployed health sensors in five homes at senior living community Touchmark on South Hill in Spokane.
Read more about Fritz’s work with smart health sensors at WSU Vancouver in “Technology with a human touch.”

Call the midwife
ViviAnne Fischer practices midwifery in her clinic near Pullman, where you can see her connection to the long and complicated history surrounding the practice.
In a green-colored house along a dirt road, at the top of a set of stairs, a large, nondescript black suitcase stands before a crammed bookshelf, her “library” for families. Inside the suitcase is a mix of new, modern medical equipment beside bottles of herbal extracts.
On the other side of the room is an odd-shaped stool at the foot of a bed. The bed is almost cot-like but the wooden frame poking out from beneath the quilt is carved. The … » More …
No pain’s a gain
WSU researchers are finding new ways to tackle America’s pain problems.
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