Pulse Magazine Spring 2018

pulse

COLLEGE OF

SPRING 2018

ALLIED HEALTH & NURSING

International Teamwork Minnesota State Mankato Sport Management Students teamed up with visiting HAN University students (Netherlands) for a once in a lifetime learning experience at Superbowl LVII. Read more on page 6.

Dean’s

Welcome

pulse

COLLEGE OF

ALLIED HEALTH & NURSING

2 MINNESOTA STATE MANKATO HANDBALL TEAM Each student on the Minnesota State Mankato handball team has a different story to tell about how they discovered the sport. For many students, the introductory to handball course as taught by the Human Performance Department was just what they needed to get involved.

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ROLLING DOWN THE RIVER Daniel Lee, a proud Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Services alum, didn’t let his hesitation around water stop him from setting the world record for fastest paddleboard trip down the Mississippi River. Lee credits his professors at Minnesota State Mankato for helping him learn to try new things.

INTERNATIONAL TEAMWORK A unique cross-cultural partnership between Minnesota State Mankato and HAN University in the Netherlands provides Sport Management students a glimpse into what it takes to plan one of the largest sporting events in the world!

8

BUILDING A HEALTHY COMMUNITY The colleges of Allied Health and Nursing and Science Engineering and Technology partnered with Mayo Clinic Health System to host the University’s first Health and Biomedical Sciences Summit.

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CASE COLLABORATION Over 120 students from various health-related majors filtered into the Centennial Student Union ballroom on March 28 with the same essential goal in mind: to create a well-rounded care plan for their patient.

This year has just flown by! We are settling in to the new Clinical Sciences Building (CSB) and are about to complete our first academic year in this incredible learning facility. We have substantially increased the number of community members served in the Center for Communication Sciences and Disorders and the Dental Clinic. Members of regional medical facilities have had the opportunity to participate in continuing education and customized training simulations in the Maverick Family Nursing Simulation Center. And once again we showcased this extraordinary facility and the programs in the College to the community during our 2018 College of Allied Health & Nursing Community Fair on April 6, 2018. This was one of our Sesquicentennial Showcase Events. We provided information and activities for members of the community at 36 different stations in the CSB. This year we were honored to be entertained by the Singing Hills Chorus, a group comprised of individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and their care partners and volunteers. Such a moving performance that also showcased the extraordinary acoustics in the atrium of the CSB! I am proud to bring you another round of exciting stories highlighting the work and accomplishments of the faculty and current and former students in the College of Allied Health & Nursing. We partnered with the College of Science, Engineering and Technology to host our first Health and Biomedical Sciences Summit, one of the University’s 12 Areas of Academic Distinction. You will find pictures and an article about this event. We are also proud to showcase our partnership with the Sport Management program from HAN Univerity in the Netherlands. Two faculty members and 6 students spent 2 weeks in January learning, collaborating and working several events at the Super Bowl alongside faculty and students in our program. We also are excited to share with you our opportunity to serve school-aged children and their families at Health Commons at Pond Center. This partnership also serves our Family Nurse Practitioner program by providing students with a real-world clinical experience. I know you will enjoy hearing about a collaboration between faculty and students in Dental Hygiene and the Director of our Maverick Family Nursing Simulation Center as they experienced medical emergencies in the dental clinic. Other stories showcase a faculty member in Sport and Exercise Psychology whose book was just published, two faculty members from somewhat disparate disciplines who partnered to host a camp for children with literacy challenges and students who have discovered handball. I know you also will enjoy the story about an alumnus who paddled the length of the Mississippi River setting a record along the way!

A few other student success highlights not showcased in this edition of the Pulse: All 20 senior dental hygiene students passed their National Board exam in April; the first cohort of students completing the new master’s of science degree in Athletic Training will graduate in May; 100% of graduates of our students in the Dietetics program were accepted into internships necessary to become Registered Dietitians; 38 out of 39 students passed the RN NCLEX exam on the first attempt.

This was another great year of innovation and collaboration. I am so very proud of the accomplishments of the faculty, staff and students in the College. Hope you enjoy reading this set of great stories as we continue to lead, partner and achieve!

Warm regards, Kris Retherford

College of Allied Health & Nursing Dr. Kristine Retherford Dean Departments Dental Hygiene Family Consumer Science Health Science Human Performance Recreation, Parks & Leisure Services Speech, Hearing & Rehabilitation Services School of Nursing Minnesota State University, Mankato’s College Allied Health & Nursing is dedicated to promoting wellness and improving quality of life through education, scholarship and service to the state, region and global community.

The purpose of pulse is to inform stakeholders of the ongoing work of the College of Allied Health & Nursing and its impact on the allied health and nursing fields. Pulse is published annually by the College of Allied Health & Nursing and distributed to faculty, staff, students, alumni, and stakeholders in the allied health and nursing industries. The College of Allied Health & Nursing welcomes ideas for feature stories and other content consistent with the mission of the magazine. Please email story ideas to col-allied-hlth-nursing@mnsu.edu.

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HEALTH COMMONS AT POND CENTER The School of Nursing and the Bloomington School District recently partnered to open a free clinic Health Commons at Pond to meet the increasing medical needs of a low income population.

CAMP MAVERICK Dr. Megan Mahowald and Dr. Brooke Burk created a new kind of camp for area school children aimed at improving literacy levels. By combining recreation and reading, campers achieved outstanding results!

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PERFORMING BEYOND BEYOND GRIT Sport and Exercise Psychology professor Dr. Cindra Kamphoff lays out 10 practices of high performers in her new book, Beyond Grit.

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PARTNERSHIP MAKES BETTER PROVIDERS Thanks to a unique collaboration between Nursing and Dental Hygiene faculty, Dental Hygiene students are learning how to respond to emergency situations in real time.

Spring 2018 Volume Five

College of Allied Health & Nursing Minnesota State University, Mankato 124 Myers Field House Mankato, MN 56001 Phone: 507-389-6315 Managing Editor/Writer Emily Frederick Designer Gail Connelly Contributing Writers Sarah Asp Olson Joe Tougas Grace Webb Photographer Pat Christman Print Coordinator Doug Fenske A member of the Minnesota State system and an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity University.

This document is available in alternative format to individuals with disabilities by calling the College of Allied Health and Nursing at 507-389-6315 (V), 800-627-3529 or 711 (MRS/TTY).

AHNU149NE

Minnesota State Mankato

Handball Team

By Joe Tougas

The sport of handball is a recent and growing addition to the Department of Human Performance class offerings.

It began as a sole, one-credit intro class, an experiment to see if it could generate players for the handball team. Today,

as well as provide scholarship funds for University students who plan to teach handball in the community and, after graduation, beyond.

It’s all come a long way since coach Mike Wells

three classes–including advanced handball–are available, and the department is getting financial support from the sport’s national association.

The United States Handball Association (USHA) has formally agreed to split the costs with Human Performance for two sections of Introduction to Handball.

The USHA is providing $25,000 to help pay for the classes

encouraged a couple of his computer information science students to form a handball club. That club has since traveled the country, attained several titles for its players and introduced dozens of students to new towns and new experiences.

“We didn’t know what we were doing, really,” Wells laughs today at a table outside Mankato State Mankato’s

2 COL LEGE O F A LLI ED HEA LT H & N UR S I N G

The 2017-18 Minnesota State Mankato Handball Team.

handball courts. Yet above him are plaques along the wall showcasing the various titles the handball team, with Wells as coach and John Stoffel as assistant coach, has won since beginning in 2008.

Technically a club and not a sports team under Minnesota State Mankato athletics, the handball team is open to anybody at any skill level; tournament organizers pair players accordingly.

“Tournaments are a pretty fun environment for the players,” Wells says. “As long as you’re a full-time student at an accredited university, you can participate.”

Carina Aguilar, 22, was a sophomore at Minnesota State Mankato when a good friend who was on the team encouraged her to join. She knew next to nothing about the sport but gave it a shot. A few weeks into the class, she was invited by Wells to participate in the upcoming collegiate tournament in Minneapolis.

“So my first tournament ever playing handball was the collegiate tournament,” says Aguilar, now a senior. “I had a blast. It was a really good experience. The team was so welcoming to me, and they really did help me prep. In less than two months I got the biggest crash course in handball.”

While being ever-so-close year after year, the team has yet

Each season begins in the fall and runs through the entire school year, with tournaments taking place monthly at colleges in cities such as Kansas City, Chicago, Milwaukee and elsewhere. The team each year attends the National Collegiate Tournament and, will take part in the Collegiate World Tournament, which takes place every three years, this year. It will be in Minneapolis August 9-18.

“It’s crazy to think that some of my closest friends have come from handball,” Aguilar says. “And I’ve done it less than a couple of years…I love the team. It’s very relaxed. It doesn’t feel like there’s a need to be perfect, no one gets upset if you lose, they’re there to cheer you on.”

What the team is, Wells says, is a group that enjoys the sport and each other.

“It’s not always about the elite athlete,” he says. “The guts of the organization are made up of players who just love it. So the commitment is pretty high for those that stick.”

Several students are signed up to help teach in fall semester– and thus qualify for scholarships–in what Wells calls a mutually beneficial situation between the University and an outside entity.

“The USHA is getting what they want,” he says. “They’re

to take a national title. “We’ve won lots of individual national titles,” Wells says. “Those are all great things, but we haven’t won the overall team title for men’s, women’s or combined.”

getting instructors that are being located somewhere across the U.S., and for the University it’s a cost-share with an industry partner. It’s kind of a unique model for university instruction.”

h Coach Mike Wells instructs Carina Aguilar on her swing.

P U L S E | S P RI NG 2018 3

4 COL LEGE O F A LLI ED HEA LT H & N UR S I N G

Rolling down the river

By Grace Webb

Growing up in Mankato, Minnesota State Mankato alum Daniel Lee always loved the outdoors—except the water. It’s a childhood fact about Lee that might surprise you, given that he now holds the record for fastest paddleboard trip down the Mississippi River.

Lee earned a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services from Minnesota State Mankato in 2012, and he credits his professors with helping him learn to try new things.

“I will never forget how much my professors really had passion about what they were teaching, and it really rubbed off on me,” Lee said. “They really made sure what I was doing was the best work I could do, and they helped us try many different forms of activities and experiences while in college. I really kept trying things that I never thought I would do in my life.”

One of those new experiences was paddleboarding, which Lee first explored in 2011. He loved it so much that he decided to mix it with a dream he’d harbored since he was a kid: to paddle down the Mississippi River…

despite his aquatic reservations.

His route was daunting: an arduous, 2,300-mile journey from Lake Itasca to Port Eads. He left on Aug. 31 of last year, traveling with camping gear, a hammock and freeze-dried foods. He averaged about 50 miles a day, starting out at 6 a.m. most mornings and not stopping until the evening.

“The trip was a lot different than I thought it was going to be,” he said. “The beginning of the river was absolutely beautiful, wildlife everywhere. Then once you get to Minneapolis, the river becomes very industrial for the rest of the trip: barges everywhere, recreational boaters speeding past you on the river, and locks and dams.”

Lee said he spent most of the nights in his hammock along the way, though other times people would invite him to stay with them at their house or RV, feeding him, doing his laundry and even paying for his campsites.

While Lee’s trip was impressive enough on its own, he added one more challenge: to complete it fast enough to set a new world record for paddling

down the Mississippi. And, although it ended up taking him 55 days instead of his planned 50, he still succeeded.

“It’s still weird that I hold the fastest time down the river on a paddleboard, and I don’t know if it will ever really set in,” he said.

But as much as he wanted to hold a new world record, there was more to Lee’s trip than glory: he wanted to raise funds for the American Camp Association, which offers scholarships for kids to attend summer camp. By the end of his 55-day journey, he managed to raise $6,000.

“I’ve seen the influence on kids that go to overnight camps,” he said.

“They achieve things at camp that they never thought they could do and maybe would not have if they were not given the opportunity until camp provided it for them. I myself achieved things working at a camp for three years that I thought I would have never done before. Being able to give back to a camp that gave so much to me was a great way to repay them for the amazing things camp put in to my life.”

h Daniel Lee poses with his paddleboard at the beginning of his 2,300 mile journey Lake Itasca State Park.

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Inte r nat iona l

Sports Management students pause for a photo before their volunteer shift at Super Bowl Live.

By Grace Webb

When Minnesota State Mankato professors Suzannah

Schull and Armentrout have experience with

Armentrout and Vicki Schull heard that Minneapolis had

intercultural exchanges, thanks to an already established

secured the chance to host Super Bowl LII, they knew

relationship between Minnesota State Mankato and HAN

this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Minnesota

University in the Netherlands based around sports tourism

State Mankato students interested in sports tourism. But

and athletics. Originally, programs were offered for an

more than that, they recognized the unique chance for an

entire semester of studying abroad, but the course time was

intercultural partnership with students from other countries.

shortened to make it easier for students to participate.

“That’s such a unique experience in a national sport

“We realized not everyone can study abroad for a

context for our students in the U.S. and certainly for students

semester,” Armentrout said. “It can be intimidating to

in other countries as well,” Schull explained.

go a whole semester, but the short-term [programs] are

6 COL LEGE O F A LLI ED HEA LT H & N UR S I N G

Te amwork another way to get students. Maybe they’d be more inclined afterwards to study abroad.”

“This exchange is far more effective, financially, and in

terms of the total value,” added Martjn Kamper, who led the Dutch side of things. “In the short term, you can experience a whole lot with a whole lot of students. [Our programs] were really packed with all kinds of activities.”

Together, Schull, Armentrout and Kamper devised

a two-and-a-half week program during Minnesota State Mankato’s spring semester that would focus on sports tourism and offer students the chance to participate in activities organized by the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee. Students volunteered mostly at ancillary events leading up to the Super Bowl, such as Super Bowl Live, and helped with everything from crowd control to taking pictures to running different events.

“The students all agreed that it was an amazing, fantastic

experience to do and to be a part of, and they were very happy to join in all the activities,” Kamper said.

Sport Management professors Martjn Kamper of HAN University (left) and Suzannah Armentrout of Minnesota State Mankato (right).

Armentrout added that the program was an excellent

way for students to be able to see what they were learning in the classroom actually play out in real life.

experience this, instead of hearing it from me as a faculty, it

made it really interesting. I consider international exchanges

“They got to really experience what it takes for

volunteer management,” she said. “[The committee]

really to be a necessary part of your education. It broadens

had 10,000 volunteers. Our students got that

your horizon so much.”

snippet, the extent that you have to really, really, really plan for

volunteer management and event management.”

2019, with the hope that Minnesota State Mankato students

can travel to HAN University and work with students there

Beyond seeing real-world applications to classroom

Plans are already underway for another exchange in

lessons, Kamper said the program offered students an

to study more about sports tourism together.

invaluable experience in cross-cultural interaction.

kind of feels like it is because you get so much,” Armentrout

“From a cultural perspective, even though we’re

“This isn’t a study abroad program [technically], but it

both western civilizations, it’s the small details that make

said. “It is something that’s really valuable and adds to

it different,” he said. “But those differences really make

everyone’s personal development, whether you’re a faculty

things worthwhile and interesting. For students to actually

member or a student.”

P U L S E | S P RI NG 2018 7

Building a Healthy Community

By Emily Frederick

Audiology student, Koryn Greskowiak demonstrates tympanometry to an attendee. The test measures middle ear function.

Healthcare professionals and members of the Minnesota State Mankato and Mankato area communities gathered on March 28 for the campus first ever Health and Biomedical Sciences Summit. The engaging professional day included keynote speakers, workshops hosted by Minnesota State Mankato faculty, an industry-leader guest panel, demonstrations on current technology being used at Minnesota State Mankato and undergraduate research posters. Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Services professor, and planning committee member Dr. Rachelle Fuller commented that,“The success of the Summit was that it

brought together a number of current and potential partners for the University and highlighted the [University’s] Health and Biomedical Sciences area of distinction.”

The Summit’s theme, ‘Building a Healthy Community: Innovating through Partnerships’ encouraged meaningful dialogue with practicing and future healthcare providers, while showcasing current research being conducted at Minnesota State Mankato.

Guest panelist and Regional Vice President at Mayo Clinic Health System, Dr. James R. Hebl offered a seasoned perspective: “The healthcare environment is changing at a rapid pace, requiring input and engagement from individuals (patients), health care organizations and communities. As a result, partnerships between health care providers and communities will become critically important to ensure a common understanding.

For example, focusing our healthcare dollars on value as opposed to volume is an important concept that society needs to prepare for—and an important reason why we need to keep these conversations going.”

The event was co-sponsored by the College of Allied Health and Nursing, the College of Science, Engineering and Technology and Mayo Clinic Health System. “It was wonderful to see a number of the outstanding collaborations being recognized throughout the day.

There are more opportunities for partnerships to be developed either internally or externally—and I hope to see some new ideas generated from the Summit experience,” Fuller said.

Dr. James R. Hebl offers his perspective as part of an industry leader guest panel.

8 COL LEGE O F A LLI ED HEA LT H & N UR S I N G

Case Collaboration

By Emily Frederick

More than 120 students from various health related majors filtered into the Centennial Student Union ballroom on March 28 with the same essential goal in mind: to create a well-rounded care plan for their patient.

In its seventh year, the inter-professional workshop day offers participants a mock patient case study through which they need to work together with other disciplines to produce a comprehensive care plan for the patient in their care. Students from the areas of Social Work, Nursing, Dental Hygiene, Alcohol and Drug Studies, Child Development, Communication Disorders and Dietetics are invited to take part in the day.

As a member of the original planning subcommittee, Dental Hygiene professor Julie Dittrich explained, “The committee wanted a way to have students from different disciplines gather. It is becoming more of a trend to have people work on teams with other disciplines and we wanted to give them some hands-on experience with this.”

Students must take a capstone course focused on patient centered care via case studies, which prepares them for the workshop day. Applying knowledge in their professional field offers an opportunity for students to effectively demonstrate their learned expertise in the final workshop. “We hope they learn things from people in other disciplines who have expertise in

Dental Hygiene professor Julie Dittrich offers students advice as they work through the case study.

Students map out their patient care plan.

different areas. We also hope they gain a better respect for other disciplines by learning what they know and can contribute to a family situation,” Dittrich said of the experience.

The scenario is centered on a patient diagnosed with a serious medical condition and weaves in various aspects of challenges in care. Challenges may include strict dietary restrictions, family and relationship trouble, limited connection to outside support, drug and alcohol use and others. “We want them to think outside of their discipline and think of all the ‘other’ variables that affect a person and should impact what we recommend for people,” Dittrich said.

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Health Commons

10 C O LLEGE O F A LLI ED HEA LT H & N UR S I N G

at Pond

By Joe Tougas

In one of three patient rooms, a five-year-old boy sits on his mother’s lap as his arm is prepped for immunization by nurse practitioner Nicole Schmitz.

He protests–loudly–but in seconds it’s done, he’s calm and a bandage is fixed to his little arm. As the family–new to the area–talks with Schmitz on their way out, the boy looks up and asks her the whereabouts of Toys ‘R’ Us. Apparently, some sort of deal has been struck with his mom, and he’s ready to collect.

This is just one of many scenes that happen every Monday at the Health Commons at Pond, a free, walk-in medical clinic for students and families in the Bloomington school district, many of them low-income and immigrants. The clinic is operated by the Minnesota State Mankato nursing program and staffed by Schmitz and other nurse practitioners.

Nicole Schmitz prepares a strep test for a patient.

When the clinic opened in July 2017, Schmitz and staff expected their caseloads to be along the lines of acute care–i.e. a place for kids experiencing sore throats, earaches and the like, as well as a source for immunizations.

And while they continue to see kids with illnesses, Schmitz said, a majority of their work over the past year has been in basic services such as screenings, immunization and sports physicals, the latter being the majority.

“It was a year for us to get our feet on the ground at the clinic and kind of reassess what the schools’ needs are,” said nurse practitioner Pat Beierwaltes.

“It’s a bit of a moving target and it’s good for us to be aware of that and not be so black and white about the services we’re going to offer.”

Such flexibility showed up when staff at Pond wound up providing athletic physicals at a Bloomington middle school. Demand for physicals was high, but students’ transportation and other needs threatened to get in the way of their required physicals. So Pond nursing staff and School of Nursing students went to the school.

Lauren Lehmkuhl, an RN finishing up her master’s degree in nursing this year, helped with the physicals, which were given on the same day as the school’s sports sign-up.

“It was really meaningful to see how school-based health care can be delivered, and to see how it can eliminate barriers that can prevent kids from getting the care they need,”

she said. In areas such as obesity and early type II diabetes, she said, such University-school district collaborations can yield big results.

“For me that was one of the biggest takeaways, Lehmkuhl said. “If we can change the way in which we deliver care, we can change health care outcomes.”

One upcoming area of concern is how to best handle kids coming back to school after suffering concussions, which occur everywhere from the football field to the playground at recess.

“There’s not a unified approach in the medical community about how to take care of a kid with a concussion,” Schmitz said. “They’re really looking for some guidance as to the best information out there.” To that end, Schmitz said, a student in the University’s doctorate of nursing practice (DNP) program is working on researching the most recent concussion education, to be provided to the school district.

Beierwaltes and Schmitz both said more marketing for Pond is on the way, but it’s important to make sure the clinic’s walk-in service can respond quickly and effectively.

“If we have a waiting room full of people and can’t provide care, that’s not great,” Schmitz said. “We want to market just enough that we keep the doors open and keep it busy, but not that we’re not able to serve the people who come in. But it is getting to the point where we need a second night of the week open.”

h Dr. Nicole Schmitz, assistant professor of nursing and clinical director of Health Commons at Pond.

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Camp

Maverick: Rec

By Grace Webb

Reading is one of the most valuable skills students can learn. There is no other academic ability so crucial as reading when it comes to pursuing higher education and establishing a career. But different students learn in different ways, and it can be a challenge to find the best way to help students improve their reading abilities.

Minnesota State Mankato professors Dr. Brooke Burk and Dr. Megan Mahowald recognized this critical need in area students, and they came up with a unique solution—Camp Maverick: Rec N’Read.

Camp Maverick started last year as a four-week reading, writing and recreation program to help area kids learn better reading skills. Days were split into different parts, with three hours focused on literacy intervention and five hours of recreation time. Literacy intervention included word work, comprehension skills, reading aloud and silent reading time, while recreation activities included traditional summer camp activities such as games and crafts.

Mahowald explained that she and Burk came up with the idea for a summer reading camp after working with school-age

children who came into Minnesota State Mankato’s Center for Communication Sciences and Disorders.

“These kiddos have spent the entire day at school, and many of them do not like to read and write,” she said.

“While we had some solid intervention practices and do think about motivation, breaks and making learning fun, we weren’t doing a good enough job. I had always had the idea of a summer camp on my mind, and when I suggested teaming up, Brooke loved the idea. It is sort of magical; we have the background and expertise in literacy, but Brooke knows how to run a camp and make it motivating and fun for children.”

Working as part of a collaboration between Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of Speech, Hearing and Rehabilitation Services, which houses the Center for Communication Sciences and Disorders, and the Department of Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services, Burk and Mahowald led a research team of 15 undergraduate and graduate students to come up with a plan to implement the first camp in June 2017.

Campers from the K-5 grade group with their Minnesota State Mankato counselors.

12 C O LLEGE O F A LLI ED HEA LT H & N UR S I N G

N’ Read

“We [did] a lot of work meeting with faculty and leadership across campus,” Mahowald said. “We of course want and encourage participation from the College of Education and have a lot of support from them. The inter-professional practices and education was huge. All of our counselors indicated that they loved the opportunity to work with students from other programs.”

In its first year, Camp Maverick served 44 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, with 13 camp counselors and three camp directors helping facilitate the activities. Each child who participated received a personal assessment, and students received more than 1,420 hours of literacy invention throughout the camp’s four weeks.

“We have had some really nice gains in literacy skills for campers who attended three to four weeks last summer,” Burk said. “Children made significant gains in reading rate and accuracy and comprehension skills. We also noticed changes over the course of the camp in terms of writing skills. Parents commented that motivation for reading and writing increased over the course of camp.”

Camp Maverick will run again this summer, and Burk said there are already some families who have reached out about attending for a second time. Camp starts June 4.

Dr. Brooke Burk takes a moment to pose with students between activities.

Campers had the opportunity to utilize the rock-wall during recreation time.

“We have been so happy with all aspects of camp!! It is quite obvious that much time, forethought, and effort went into the planning of every detail!

Everything from the initial assessments to the nutritious lunches, the recreational activities to the academic activities have been so impressive. We’ve especially been impressed by how willing the staff has been to work with our son who has some physical, academic and behaviors special needs. All of our kiddos who have attended camp this month have grown not only in their academic ability, but we’ve also seen their confidence and attitude towards reading and writing surpass anything we could have hoped for! We are really hoping this camp will continue for many years to come.” ~parent of a 2017 Rec N’ Read participant

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Performing Beyond

14 C O LLEGE O F A LLI ED HEA LT H & N UR S I N G

Beyond Grit

By Sarah Asp Olson

consulting athletes and high-performers.

and college runner, but in college, I really

For Dr. Cindra Kamphoff, grit is

“I was a very successful high school

just the beginning.

struggled with the mental game,” she

says. “I had all of the talent in the world,

“You need grit—passion and

Professor and coach, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff offers a wealth of high-performance advice in her new book, “Beyond Grit”.

perseverance toward your very long-

but it was mindset that got in my way.”

term goals—and grit is a starting point

for high performance,” says Kamphoff,

of high performers, and gives readers

director of The Center of Sport and

the tools to put them into play in their

come from all over the world to study

Performance Psychology and associate

own lives, no matter their ultimate goal.

Sport and Exercise Psychology here and

professor in Sport & Performance

I am grateful for them. I couldn’t have

Psychology at Minnesota State Mankato.

from the rest,” she says. “There are various

produced such a quality product without

To Kamphoff, pushing yourself into

ways we can get in our own way, and

them. The graduate students help me

the realm of the best of the best is about

this book teaches you how to become

stay on the top of my game.”

more than passion; it’s practicing a

mentally strong.”

high-performing mindset each day.

career working with high-performing

practical steps to implement her practices

athletes, she intentionally wrote

automatic, hence the word practice,”

was especially important to Kamphoff.

“Beyond Grit” for a broad audience.

she says. “High performance happens

beyond grit.”

the topic, but don’t show them how, it is

guide for people to live and perform

very difficult to change,” she says.

on purpose; to help them master the

Kamphoff ’s Amazon bestselling

mental game in any part of their lives,”

book, published in August 2017. The

on instruction. When Kamphoff isn’t

she says. “We all perform in some way,

accompanying workbook came out last

working one-on-one with athletes, she

and the book helps us be better in every

January.

serves as coordinator for the Minnesota

area of our lives. I wrote it not just for

State Mankato master’s program in Sport

athletes but also for entrepreneurs,

experiences as a template for the

and Exercise Psychology.

students, parents, teachers, coaches.

book, along with what she’s learned in

You can apply every chapter to some

more than 20 years working with and

fresh,” she says. “Many of the concepts

part of your life.”

in the book were developed from

conversations with graduate students here

speaking and professional services, and to

at Minnesota State Mankato. Students

order “Beyond Grit”, visit beyondgrit.com.

“It’s not something that is

“Beyond Grit” is the name of

Kamphoff used her own life and

h Dr. Cindra Kamphoff

“Beyond Grit” lays out 10 practices

“These practices separate the best

Focusing on the how by offering

“Because if you just teach people

It’s no surprise she centered her work

“My graduate students help me stay

And while Kamphoff ’s built her

“I wanted to write a practical

For more about Dr. Kamphoff ’s

P U L S E | S P RI NG 2018 15

Partnership Makes Better Providers

By Sarah Asp Olson

Thanks to a unique collaboration between Nursing and Dental Hygiene faculty, students are learning how to respond to emergency situations in real time.

Understanding a concept or practice on paper and implementing it in the real world can be drastically different. This is especially true when it comes to emergency situations, where quick reaction times are critical.

Nursing students start practicing on one of 13 high-fidelity mannequins in the Maverick Family Nursing Simulation Center as early as their first semester in the program. Now—thanks to the proactive efforts of Simulation Center director Colleen Royle and dental hygiene faculty Trisha Krenik-Matejcek and Angela Monson—dental hygiene students can also take advantage of the lifelike mannequins to practice emergency responses in real time.

“In the past for medical emergencies… competency was just based on paper,” says Monson.

“There were just symptoms of what a patient might be having and they would have to diagnose that emergency and then verbally tell us what they would do. We knew that doing [simulations] would be better, because obviously anything that you actually do you’re more likely to remember.”

Monson reached out to Royle last year and the two began brainstorming about what collaboration might look like.

“Colleen was the one who was willing actually, to get things started and get things going, and she jumped right into the opportunity, so I immediately connected her with Trisha,” says Monson.

h (left to right) Colleen Royle, Trisha KrenikMatejek and Angela Monson pose with the mannequin that is used for simulation.

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“I started meeting with Trisha and Angela to go over the high-fidelity mannequins and their possibilities,” adds Royle. “Really, they’re endless, so they were amazed, and with that we came up with some different scenarios that they wanted [their students] to experience.”

Last fall, after conducting faculty training, the interdisciplinary team invited juniors into the lab to run through simulated scenarios they may encounter in a dental chair, such as fainting from anxiety, cardiac arrest and hypoglycemia.

Royle familiarized students with the mannequins, allowing them to touch and interact with them before the simulation started. She then stood in a separate viewing area and controlled the mannequin’s physical and verbal responses.

Through the training, students learned how to recognize signs of distress and implement emergency procedures quickly and efficiently. Krenik-Matejcek collected survey responses from student participants and found that all students demonstrated a significant increase in confidence when it came to administering medications and oxygen during an emergency and implementing “Code Blue” procedures.

Students completed their first simulation in the fall of 2017, then returned in the spring for a second set of scenarios. One of the most beneficial parts of the simulation was the freedom the students had to make mistakes and then go back in and correct them.

“The students learned a ton from those mistakes, even from the first simulation experience to their second,” says KrenikMatejcek. “They were more confident. It was really, really fun to watch. It was a fun day; all the students would say that.”

Beyond fun, students left the sessions feeling better

Dental Hygiene students respond during the emergency simulation by administering CPR. prepared to go into practice. One wrote in response to the simulation: “Getting the experience in an emergency-like situation was the most beneficial. I know what to do in a real-life situation because of the simulation.”

Royle, Monson and Krenik-Matejcek plan to continue offering simulation training to dental hygiene students, perhaps even opening up to the professional community.

“Actually we discussed the possibility of trying to do some type of continuing education where we would partner with actual dental offices and help them do the exact same thing,” says Monson. “Review their policies, identify any errors, so they might be able to improve and get some hands on practice in emergency situations.”

While medical emergencies in the dental chair continue to be rare, knowing how to respond when one does happen is a critical part of working as a health care provider— something Minnesota State Mankato students are all the more prepared to do now.

“Every dental hygienist and probably every dentist hopes they never have to manage a medical emergency, but the reality is that it could happen,” says KrenikMatejcek. “Our hope is that by exposing them in a safe place, in a safe environment, by having that experience we’re hoping they’re going to feel a little bit more confident when and if they ever have this happen to them.”

h Colleen Royle briefs students before the simulation.

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College of Allied Health & Nursing Minnesota State University, Mankato 124 Myers Field House Mankato, MN 56001

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A Reason to Give

Sharon P. Aadalen, Ph.D., RN, Professor Emeritus, has proudly been part of the Minnesota State Mankato community since 1991. Serving as a faculty member in the School of Nursing until her retirement in 2002, her passion for preparing Family Nurse Practitioners has had a lasting impact on the program and the lives of students under her tutelage. Aadalen built the foundation for the school’s masters curriculum, later overseeing its success as director. Following her career at Minnesota State Mankato, she continues to make an impact through donating to student scholarships.

Her unwavering commitment, generosity and vision continue to make it possible for students to pursue their passion in healthcare. To learn more about giving back and how your donation can impact student success, contact Chris Hvinden at christopher.hvinden@mnsu.edu or 507-389-5621.