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  Flowers or Flora?: Understanding the Effects of Probiotics on Depression

  Nicole Collopy

  Chances are, we all know someone who has had their life affected by depression and anxiety; and we have all experienced these feelings on some level. What if the key to unlocking these problems lied within every one of us -- inside of our gut? The research topic being explored is the relationship between gut health and mood disorders. The question of interest is: Does the use of probiotic supplementation have an effect on feelings of depression?

  Connection between gut health and mental health is significant as approximately 6.7% of adults in the U.S. suffer from major depressive disorder. There has been an observed association between gut health disorders and mood disorders, mainly anxiety and depression. Those who demonstrate anxiety and depression have an increased likelihood of developing abnormal gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. This raises the possibility of bi-directionality between the brain and the gut, meaning that GI health may have an effect on mental health and vice versa.

  This relationship is important to explore. Probiotics, bacteria that are beneficial to the body, have grown in popularity as a gut health supplement which may have an affect on the brain. There is much reason to suspect and explore the relationship between probiotic supplements and depression.

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  Factors & Risks Associated with Adolescents Late Entry into Prenatal Care

  Shannon Almonia, Kimberly Damian, Giuliana Enea, Solveig Karlsen, and Jessica Markham

  Prenatal care is a type of preventative health care for pregnant women that is typically initiated in the first trimester. However, when prenatal care is inadequate, initiated past the first trimester or missed, the mother and fetus experience an increased risk for preterm delivery. Adolescents are apart of a specific subgroup of pregnant women that are at a higher risk for adverse outcomes during pregnancy due to knowledge deficits. Therefore, adolescents are especially likely to receive inadequate prenatal services. Numerous studies have been conducted to discover the result of inadequate prenatal care; however, not as many studies explore the factors associated with late entry or lack of entry into prenatal care for adolescents. These factors need to be identified so care providers can accurately identify pregnant adolescents who are at the greatest risk for receiving inadequate care so that they can attempt to prevent preterm births.

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  Influenza Vaccination in School-aged Children

  Isabella Jao, Chloe McFadin, Nica Nuguid, Dan Recinto, and Kaitlin Van Ryn

  Should schools in the United States require children between the ages of six months to 17 years to have flu vaccination shots? Influenza is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death. According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC), every flu season varies, and an influenza infection can affect people differently. Millions of people get the flu every year, hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized, and thousands or tens of thousands of people die from flu-related causes every year. Everyone is at risk for influenza, but the highest risk lies within children who are still developing their immune systems. However, with vaccines, this risk is easily preventable and can decrease a person’s chances of acquiring the infection. As such, the CDC recommends that every person six months and older should be vaccinated annually. This is even more important for children because they attend schools where they have maximum exposure to various strains of influenza six to ten hours daily. They can easily spread and contract the disease in their school environment, specifically from children that are not vaccinated. This leads to the hypothesis that children six months to 17 years should be required to receive influenza vaccinations.

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  Common Factors Related to Illicit Substance Use Among Nurses in North America

  Madison Marshall, Reinelle Regala, Lucy Gray, Emma Pedlar, and Samantha naguit

  The prevalence of illicit substance use among registered nurses, though not widely studied or addressed, is understood to be an essential issue facing healthcare professionals. An impaired nurse is defined as someone who has impaired functioning as a result of substance abuse and it interferes with their professional judgment and ability to deliver safe, high quality care. Registered nurses have access to many high-controlled prescription medications, with little oversight, and the opportunity for substance abuse is significant. In our research, we studied the risk factors, the prevalence, and the preventative measures involved in addressing illicit substance use among nurses.

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  What is the relationship between food insecurity and college students aged 18-22 and its effects on academic performance and how can proper nutrition be promoted?

  Karla Ramos, John Magbanua, Daniella Flores, Janelle de Dios, Karla Bugtong, and Shannon Almonia

  Food insecurity is defined as the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods. It can also be defined as the limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways. Previous research has observed that food insecurity can disrupt optimal development throughout the life cycle. A growing body of literature has documented the effects of food insecurity on cognitive, academic, and psychosocial development among college students. These studies consistently observed that food insecurity is associated with lower academic performance, poor health, and decreased psychosocial function. Among college students, financial hardship can translate into budget demands, such as tuition, textbooks, housing, utilities, and healthcare. These budget demands compete with money that can be used to purchase food. Over the past 30 years, the price of higher education has steadily outpaced inflation, the cost of living, and medical expenses. Food insecurity, as a potential consequence of the increasing cost of higher education, can be considered a major student health priority. College students face life-changing milestones during their transition to adulthood that may have long-lasting effects. Food insecurity during these years can potentially affect college students' cognitive, academic, and psychosocial development. Studies addressing food insecurity among college students suggest a higher prevalence of food insecurity compared with the general population. A previous study conducted in Hawai'i found that 45% of students were food insecure or at risk of food insecurity. The purpose of the current study was to further analyze the prevalence of food insecurity and identifying its correlates among students

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  Effective Interventions to Reduce the Increase In Elective Cesarean Sections In Low Risk Women

  Kimberly Kelsey, Crystal Hunter, Brianna-Kirsten Tan, Sara Shea, Heather Holland, Sasha Riley, Mary Uy, Tenzin Tsomo, Fasha Ruys-solorzano, and Dolma Tso

  According to the Annals of Family Medicine, the amount of babies born via cesarean section has increased from 4.5% in 1965 to 26.1% in 2002 and nearly 40% of all cesarean sections are repeats. After an extensive literature review, results showed that patients need to be educated about the risks and benefits of vaginal delivery and cesarean delivery. It was also found that there needs to be policy changes to decrease the amount of cesarean sections done and increase the labor and delivery support without using interventions. Further study should be focused on morbidity and mortality very low birth weight neonates for women with previous cesarean sections that accounts for unplanned VBAC deliveries.

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  A Literature Review of Vertical Violence Between Staff Medical Surgical Nurses and Nursing Students During Clinical Rotations

  Lisa N. Cunningham

  Vertical violence is defined as any act of violence including yelling, snide comments, withholding information, ignoring, and humiliating behaviors occurring between two or more persons on different levels of a hierarchical system that prohibits professional performance and satisfaction within the workplace (Cantey, 2013). Vertical violence can occur in any unit of the hospital but is mainly felt and witnessed by student nurses and their clinical instructors in the medical surgical units. According to research done by Fenush and Hupcey (2008), the nursing shortage is most severe in the medical surgical units. Their research found that the two greatest factors in whether a new graduate will choose a specific unit is the experience they had and how the unit staff treat and respond to nursing students. Vertical violence has been an ongoing problem in the nursing profession and is now affecting hospital units where newly graduated nurses are needed the most. There is a gap of knowledge of why staff nurses are holding biases against the students’, and how communication and teamwork between the two can be improved. This literature review will attempt to bridge the gap by examining the current and past literature on vertical violence in hope of uncovering information that can be used for future research and hospital protocols. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the attitudes and biases of staff nurses when working with students’, to see how staff and student relationships have improved, and if students’ clinical experience on a particular unit will determine their career choice post graduation.

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  Literature Review of Nosocomial Infections Passed Through Nurses' Personal Items

  Corina Hickman

  As defined by the encyclopedia, nosocomial infections are infections whose development is favored by a hospital environment, such as one acquired by a patient during a hospital visit or one developing among hospital staff. There has been more of a prevalence of hospital-acquired infections that are linked directly to medical personnel – especially nurses. Nurses have the most contact with patients and are potentially putting patients at highest risk for nosocomial infections. Even though nurses are following isolation precautions and standard hand washing in between patients; there are still a few things on nurses that could be harmful to their patients including stethoscopes, uniforms, and cell phones. I will be looking at research studies that show how harmful these personal items on nurses can be for patients, and what protocols are implemented in hospitals to keep patients safe from acquiring any nosocomial infections.