Kristen Manning, from Hanover, Massachusetts, is passionate about the new prospects in the field of nursing. Her project, supported by an International Research Opportunities Program grant, allowed her not only to travel to the country of her family’s origin, Northern Ireland, but also to discover new ideas and treatments for learning disabilities, a field that is personally and professionally of interest to her. Though at times her research was challenging, Manning believes that this opportunity has enabled her to find her calling in the nursing field. “I am determined to decrease the barriers that prohibit persons with intellectual disabilities from being autonomous in their own health care,” she says and has directed her professional education toward the improvement of health care for this population. An Honors in Major student, Manning will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in May 2012. She plans on pursuing a Masters in Nursing after graduation.
Dr. Joan Earle Hahn APRN, GCNS-BC, GNP-BC, CDDN joined the Department of Nursing at the University of New Hampshire as associate professor in fall 2008. Dr. Hahn’s research expertise is in nursing interventions and curriculum development for nurses and other health care professionals about promoting health and well being of persons with disabilities to reduce health disparities and promote full participation in life activities. Her research interests and skills were a perfect match to Kristen Manning’s interest in conducting research in Ireland on health issues of adults with learning disabilities and the nurse’s role in promoting health among adults living in the community. These mutual interests have led Dr. Hahn and Kristen along with her foreign mentor, Dr. Owen Barr, to produce a co-authored paper that will be presented at the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities in July 2012. Dr. Hahn feels that Kristen “gained improved communication and research dissemination skills from the experience of writing for Inquiry.”
Kristen’s foreign mentor, Dr. Owen Barr, is professor and Head of School of Nursing at the University of Ulster. Both his teaching and research interests lie in community nursing and access to general health care for people with intellectual disabilities. Drs. Barr and Hahn had met through professional networks and made a perfect team to help Kristen refine her research project and complete the ethical approval process. In Northern Ireland, Dr. Barr provided access to participants for Kristen and met with her regularly, when they often held Skype conferences with Dr. Hahn. This was a first mentoring experience for Dr. Barr and, he says, “It was great. I learned so much about her course and experience of nurse education.”
Read Kristen Manning's research article A Community Approach: Improving the Health and Wellness of People with Learning Disability in Northern Ireland >>
