Nursing Faculty

Ashley Wiest, DNP, FNP-BC

Mary Cunningham — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 17:14:34 +0000

Ashley Wiest, DNP, FNP-BC Mary Cunningham Fri, 06/07/2024 - 13:14

Project Coordinator for Mason’s Learning Laboratory for Community Health
Provider for ECOP JMAT and Bridge Program
Faculty for the School of Nursing (Mason Online Program)
Family Nurse Practitioner, Board Certified (FNP-BC)

Contact Information

Email: ahabina@gmu.edu

Biography

Dr. Ashley Wiest (she/her/hers) is the Project Coordinator for Mason’s Learning Laboratory for Community Health, a Provider for ECOP JMAT and Bridge Program, and a professor for the School of Nursing (Mason Online Program) and College of Public Health. Wiest is a leading expert on working with underserved populations, particularly the uninsured, homeless, and disabled populations. She specializes in developing relationships with partners, focusing on community engagement and relationship building.

Before her career at Mason, she worked as a clinical specialist for Sentara Health System in the Emergency Department, developing a fellowship program focused on a new graduate retention model. Wiest is a three-time alumnus of ��AV (BSN, MSN, DNP). She has extensive experience in her career in project development, developing programs from the ground up and leading them towards successful sustainability. Her current project involvement includes workforce development for graduate research assistants in the Learning Lab, focusing on student education, experience, and rapid quality improvement.

Degrees

Bachelor of Science, Nursing, ��AV, 2009
Master of Science, Nursing Education, ��AV, 2015
Doctor of Nursing Practice, Family Nurse Practitioner, ��AV, 2022

In the News

Learning Laboratory for Community Health prepares graduate students to solve real-world public health challenges
June 6, 2024

Associate Professor Erin D. Maughan receives VDOE Grant to invigorate the future of school nursing

Taylor Thomas — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 17:53:38 +0000

Associate Professor Erin D. Maughan receives VDOE Grant to invigorate the future of school nursing Taylor Thomas Fri, 02/09/2024 - 12:53

Both regionally and across the country, there is a severe lack of programs dedicated to school nursing administrators (i.e. nurses who lead school nursing and school health programs at the district level). Erin Maughan, an associate professor in College of Public Health’s School of Nursing at ��AV, intends to remedy this with a $364,503 grant from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE). With the funding, Maughan will establish the School Nursing Leadership Academy.

Erin D. Maughan

"There are over 130,000 school nurses across the nation, who are central to the foundation of the health and well-being of children,” Maughan said. "The goal of the academy is to develop leaders in school nursing who have the knowledge and skills needed to successfully oversee school health programs at the district level, as well as state and regional school nursing associations."

The academy, which is expected to be fully developed by June 2024, will be designed to train future leaders in school nursing using TeamSTEPPS, an evidence-based curriculum that prioritizes incorporating effective communication and teamwork into the health care system. The program will take place over one-and-a-half years and will incorporate experiential learning, equestrian activity, and expert-led discussions.

In addition, Mason's Center for Health Workforce is guiding the development of sustainable asynchronous modules for the professional development program, which along with virtual webinars, will provide additional information and mentoring opportunities.

The program kicks off with three days of in–person instruction, during which participants will use virtual reality (VR) modules to practice interprofessional skills and conflict management. Mason's College of Public Health is a leader in integrating VR into the curriculum and training of future health care leaders.

“Participating in the VR will allow gaining experience in a safe, nonthreatening environment where we can talk about how they reacted so they will have confidence and experience when they encounter situations in the real world,” said Maughan.

Maughan was originally approached by the VDOE’s state school nurse consultant Tracy White, who wanted to foster more leadership training and was aware of Maughan’s passion to do so as well. Together, they set into motion plans to create the academy.

Maughan is a leading expert on school nursing and the health of school-age children. Her research expertise is in looking at the role of infrastructure and policy on school nurse staffing and services. In addition, she has expertise in leadership, strategic planning, innovation, and mentoring. Her career is dedicated to children’s health, especially vulnerable populations. She is excited to contribute her skills and knowledge for the success of the academy.

“Having been a school nurse leader and researcher for many years, it has been a dream of mine to create such a program,” said Maughan. "I hope this program will build excitement and create a network of confident school nurse leaders who can transform school nursing in their districts, so that frontline school nurses have the guidance and support they need to work to their full scope of practice.

Maughan emphasizes how this program is not only for school nurses but also for the students they will be serving.

At its core, the School Nursing Leadership Academy is about building capacity to help school nurse leaders build their confidence and skills needed to do well in the position,” said Maughan. “We are confident this initiative will position school nurses and their program leaders to work effectively with school administrators, local health departments, health care providers and families to positively impact student health, and thus improve child health in the commonwealth and the rest of the nation.”

In This Story

Erin D. Maughan, PhD

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Nursing Administration

Workforce Development

Research

School Nursing

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TTIP

Kenneth Frese

eander6 — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 02:10:29 +0000

Kenneth Frese eander6 Wed, 05/31/2023 - 22:10

Director of Clinical Operations Nursing

Contact Information

Phone: 703-993-5613

Biography

Dr. Kenneth Frese is Director of Clinical Operations in the School of Nursing. Frese’s research and quality improvement interests are in patient safety, expanding healthcare access, new nurse preparedness and professional identity. Before coming to Mason, Frese was a clinical nurse for 31 years, spanning roles from Practical Nurse to Clinical Nurse Specialist. His experience includes 27 years with Inova primarily in Critical Care, and he has led and collaborated on multiple successful facility and system-wide QI projects.

Awards

Iams Quality Award, Inova, 2020
Iams Quality Merit Citation, Inova, 2018
Iams Quality Award, Inova, 2017
Iams Quality Award, Inova, 2016
Nursing Excellence Award, Inova, 2015
Iams Quality Award, Inova, 2014

Professional Affiliations/Memberships

Member, American Nurses Association (ANA), https://www.nursingworld.org/
Member, American Association or Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), https://www.aacn.org/
Member, Virginia Nurses Association (VNA), https://virginianurses.com/

Degrees

Doctorate of Nursing Practice – Education & Administration, ��AV, 2023
Masters of Science in Nursing – Advanced Clinical Practice, ��AV, 2012
Associates of Science in Nursing, Northern Virginia Community College, 2007
Associates of Science in Psychology, Northern Virginia Community College, 2007

Nurses trained via virtual reality performed better than those trained by inpatient clinical training

Mary Cunningham — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 20:37:23 +0000

Nurses trained via virtual reality performed better than those trained by inpatient clinical training Mary Cunningham Tue, 04/11/2023 - 16:37

Lab Coordinator Bethany Cieslowski helps nursing student Katherine Gugino adjust the virtual reality headset during a VR Simulation Lab training class. Photo by: Shelby Burgess, Office of University Branding

In search of novel tactics to accommodate a larger student body and fulfill workforce demands, nursing schools are developing new approaches to optimize learning, engage learners, and provide methods to ensure competency in future nursing graduates.

A recent study by Bethany Cieslowski, associate professor of Nursing, and colleagues found that immersive virtual reality (VR) training has been shown to be as effective as inpatient training for students learning to provide care for acute care pediatric patients. The performance of student nurses who underwent immersive virtual reality training was found to be better overall than that of their counterparts who received inpatient clinical training.

“The use of VR continues to grow in clinical nursing practice; however, the existing body of evidence on VR, especially immersive virtual reality, is limited. These preliminary results offer promise and demonstrate the potential of immersive virtual reality in the future of nursing education and preparing the workforce of the future,” said Cieslowski.

Nursing student Elianna Puerto uses a virtual reality set for a new simulation platform, SimX, during a VR Simulation Lab training class. Photo by: Shelby Burgess, Office of University Branding

The average (mean) scores for students in the immersive VR training group were higher for all performance domains, with particularly notable improvements in the subdomains of infection control, initial assessment, and oxygen therapy compared to the clinic trained group. There were no significant differences between the groups in focused assessment, medication administration, and evaluation. Total performance scores were significantly higher for the VR group.

The mixed-methods without randomization pilot study examined the effectiveness of an immersive VR simulation training program to replace pediatric clinical practice for a convenience sample of junior-level prelicensure nursing students.

“The Development and Pilot Testing of Immersive Virtual Reality Simulation Training for Prelicensure Nursing Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study” was published in Clinical Simulation in Nursing in February 2023. Tanya Haas, assistant professor of nursing; Kyeung Mi Oh, associate professor of nursing; Kathleen Chang, assistant professor of Nursing; and Cheryl Oetjen, interim director of the School of Nursing were also part of the research team.

The Medical Team, Inc. Endowment for Innovations in Nursing Education Fund funded part of the research.

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In This Story

Bethany Cieslowski, DNP

Topics

Bethany Cieslowski, DNP

A teaching intervention by Andrea Landis and Bethany Cieslowski in the School of Nursing suggests that experiential learning opportunities are fundamental to learning about gender-affirming care.

Sample of gaming vignette. Image courtesy of Kognito.

LGBTQ2+ people face notable health disparities and nurses can help improve care and access by providing inclusive, non-judgmental, gender-affirming care. Nursing, medicine, and public health programs, including ��AV, are adopting gender-affirming care as part of the curriculum. As defined by the World Health Organization, gender-affirming health care attends to transgender individuals' hormonal, surgical, medical, mental, and social health needs while respectfully affirming their gender identity.

A new teaching intervention from Assistant Professor Andrea Landis and VR Simulation Coordinator Bethany Cieslowski in the College of Health and Human Services suggests that experiential learning opportunities are fundamental to learning key concepts of gender-affirming care. Additionally, repeated practice in a safe environment helped students better understand proficient gender-affirming care. Landis and Cieslowski used gaming vignettes to teach nursing students about gender-affirming care.

"The call for action to improve care for LGBTQ2+ people requires nurse educators to introduce curriculum that integrates the barriers to care with the effects of bias and discrimination in the patient/clinician relationship,” said Landis. “Using gaming vignettes and simulations can be a great way to introduce students to gender-affirming care and help them approach scenarios from the point of the patient."

The results found that including gender-affirming care in the curriculum increases inclusive practices and the visibility of LGBTQ2+ people; this affirms previous studies’ findings. In a post-teaching intervention survey, students stated that visuals from gaming vignettes were helpful in understanding the concept of gender-affirming care and providing it. Students left the lesson better understanding the importance of pronoun and name use and respecting the patient.

The short simulation vignettes covered using chosen name and pronouns during care, the effects of bias and discrimination in the patient/clinician relationship, and the role of electronic health records in gender-affirming care.

“The simulations demonstrated how these practices contribute to a trust relationship if established at the start of patient care visits,” said Cieslowski. “The scenarios highlighted barriers to care for LGBTQ2+ patients and exemplified action steps a health care professional could take to partner with the patient.”

An Innovative Teaching Modality to Promote Proficient Gender-Affirming Care was published in August 2022 in Clinical Simulation in Nursing.

Gaming image courtesy of Kognito.

Topics

Nursing Faculty

Ashley Wiest, DNP, FNP-BC

Contact Information

Biography

Degrees

In the News

Associate Professor Erin D. Maughan receives VDOE Grant to invigorate the future of school nursing

In This Story

More news from the College of Public Health

Topics

Kenneth Frese

Contact Information

Biography

Awards

Professional Affiliations/Memberships

Degrees

Nurses trained via virtual reality performed better than those trained by inpatient clinical training

Immerse yourself in a Nursing Program at Mason

Apply to Mason

In This Story

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Gaming vignettes support teaching gender-affirming care

In This Story

A teaching intervention by Andrea Landis and Bethany Cieslowski in the School of Nursing suggests that experiential learning opportunities are fundamental to learning about gender-affirming care.

Gaming image courtesy of Kognito.

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