UWindsor study shows nurses ae feeling 'disposable' and 'burned out' Photo: (monkeybusinessimages / iStock) A study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has had on local nurses and their profession shows that many have left their jobs and others are counting down the days to retirement. Research began in 2020, when a team of UWindsor researchers interviewed 36 registered nurses working in Windsor or Michigan. Head researcher Dr. Dana Menard says the pandemic was relatively new and there was still optimism after the first round of interviews. The latest findings come from 19 interviews one year later. She says they paint a grim picture. "Our participants were almost universally exhausted, depressed, burned out, frustrated," she says. "They felt disposable, expendable and a lot of them were really expressing these doubts of fears that things would ever get back to any semblance of normal." Menard says many nurses felt they could no longer spend adequate time with patients due to understaffing. "In some cases people told us that…
$287,000 Awarded for Local Health Research WE-SPARK Health Institute and its funding partners have awarded 14 research grants totaling $287,000 to tackle local health challenges. The grants provide funding to promote the development of early-stage, innovative health research and health education projects in Windsor-Essex and support other health research programs to increase their prospects for future funding. Projects include studies related to emerging topics in health, addressing gaps in healthcare needs, igniting new ideas, generating and disseminating knowledge, and sparking collaborations. The grants involve collaborators across WE-SPARK’s four partner institutions — Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, St. Clair College, the University of Windsor and Windsor Regional Hospital — along with numerous community members, students and volunteers across Windsor-Essex. “Grants are the fuel that allows researchers to put together a team, to move their idea forward and tackle the biggest health problems that impact society” said…
Researchers teaming up to build COVID-19 vaccine confidence among students and young adults A research team will employ students from the University of Windsor and St. Clair College to foster confidence in COVID vaccines. Image: Freepik.com A group of experts with WE-Spark Health Institute received a $50,000 grant to support the project “Students Igniting Vaccine Confidence Program in Windsor-Essex.” The funds are part of a federal initiative investing $2.25 million to promote vaccine confidence through information sharing. The funds will be jointly administered by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The program will focus on four main objectives: identify and understand drivers of both vaccine confidence and hesitancy; focus on the unique perspective of racially and ethnically diverse younger populations; develop and implement evidence-based practices to address personal, social, and physical barriers to vaccine knowledge and trust;…
‘Tired, depressed, angry’ nurses leaving jobs during pandemic, Windsor study finds Dana Menard, lead investigator of an ongoing study that says nurses are burning out and quitting the profession, is pictured on Tuesday, August 3, 2021. PHOTO BY DAX MELMER /Windsor Star Windsor nurses are so “burnt out and beaten down” by COVID-19 workloads and conspiracy theories that many are quitting the profession, according to an ongoing study. A University of Windsor probe into the pandemic’s effects on local nurses reveal some have taken early retirement, switched jobs or gone on stress leave. It’s a trend that nursing organizations across Ontario and Canada are also noticing. “The participants were almost universally exhausted, burned out, frustrated, depressed,” she said. “They felt disposable. They felt expendable. And there was a lot less of that light at the end of the tunnel kind of hope that things would get better. There was a lot more concern about the variants. There was a lot of concern about vaccination rates not being has high as they need to be,…
Testing tool provides early detection of COVID-19 cases The WE-Spark COVID-19 Dashboard can detect outbreaks of COVID-19 in real time. A new tool from the WE-Spark Health Institute combines local wastewater surveillance testing with University of Windsor saliva-based screening to monitor the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The interactive dashboard compares the levels of the virus in wastewater to active or new COVID-19 cases in Windsor-Essex to detect outbreaks in real time. It pulls data from several local Windsor-Essex wastewater treatment plants, noted UWindsor professor Lisa Porter, the institute’s executive director. “The dashboard, combined with the wastewater and saliva screening, provides a surveillance platform to support the safe re-opening of Windsor-Essex,” she said. “If we have learned anything through the COVID-19 pandemic, it is the importance of having this kind of surveillance that can be rapidly deployed to isolate affected populations and avoid widespread outbreaks that can devastate our…
UWindsor early-detection tools warn community of infectious disease What began as an innovative tool that analyzed what Windsorites flush down the toilet, in order to more rapidly detect the prevalence of COVID-19 in the community, has since expanded to include testing at the other end of the digestive tract. Dr. Qiudi Geng, a research associate at the University of Windsor test local waste water for traces of the COVID-19 virus at the school on Monday, July 26, 2021. PHOTO BY DAN JANISSE /Windsor Star Analyzing samples from both municipal sewage systems and human saliva in mouths, a multi-disciplinary team of scientists at the University of Windsor is aiming to now track and publicize diseases in the population before the negative health symptoms even begin to show. And the public gets to see the ongoing results in an online real-time interactive dashboard that combines the results of this early sampling with disease outbreaks detected and reported by health authorities like the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit. The monitoring so far has shown…
Kinesiology professor warns of deadly threat posed by summer heat The extreme heat of summer places stress on our hearts and blood vessels that can be fatal to the elderly and other vulnerable people, warns kinesiology professor Anthony Bain. In an article published July 21 in The Conversation, Dr. Bain (pictured at left) writes that heat stroke is dangerous, but cardiovascular stress is responsible for more deaths during heat waves. And, thanks to global warming, heat waves are becoming longer, more intense, and more frequent. This is bad news for populations like the elderly and those with conditions such as heart disease and diabetes who are more vulnerable to extreme heat. Bain’s article explains how the cardiovascular system responds when core and skin temperature rise. Seeking relief in air-conditioned environments, wearing light clothing, keeping hydrated, and avoiding strenuous activity are effective ways to place less stress on the cardiovascular system during heat waves. Dr. Bain also explains how supervised heat therapy is emerging as…
No jab needed to return to campus at UWindsor or St. Clair College this fall St. Clair College and the University of Windsor will not be implementing a mandatory vaccination policy for students and staff. (CBC) If you're a student or faculty member returning to the University of Windsor or St. Clair College campuses this fall, you don't need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 — but reactions to this are mixed. "I think mandating vaccination would be a really important step, I think, in keeping the university campuses safe," explained Lisa Porter, a professor and biomedical researcher with the University of Windsor and executive director of WE-Spark Health Institute. But Porter stressed that shouldn't be up to individual schools, and that the school will follow the guidelines set out by the government. "Universities aren't in the business of developing public policy. I mean, that's the job of the province," she said. "They develop policy and we're following what their guidelines are." University…
Youths gain virtual introduction to Faculty of Science Budding young scientists spent a virtual week at UWindsor learning about the programs and activities offered by the Faculty of Science during the 8th annual Science Academy, July 5 to 9. A record number of 60 top-achieving Grade 11 students from Essex County and across Ontario attended. Dora Cavallo-Medved, biomedical sciences professor and Science Academy faculty leader, says they spent a great week engaging with peers as well as UWindsor faculty, staff, and students. “Science Academy allows students to virtually explore our research labs, chat with our undergraduate students, participate in science challenges, and hear directly from our alumni about science and math related career paths,” says Dr. Cavallo-Medved. “Attendees really appreciated the opportunity to catch a glimpse into their futures as a Faculty of Science student.” The students attended departmental sessions and learned about the latest in cutting-edge research. They also competed in the Science Meets Art (SMArt)…
