Lauren Barker

We should all be thankful for people like nursing major Lauren Barker, who acknowledges that “wounds may not be everyone’s forte.” In summer 2016, Lauren devoted her energy to understanding and treating diabetic wounds in order to shed light on patient experiences in Ghana. A University Honors Program student from Kingston, New Hampshire, she planned her Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) work with the help of University of New Hampshire faculty mentor Dr. Gene Harkless and Ghanaian Dr. Martin Agyei. She is grateful for the special connections she made with fellow health-care workers in Ghana. Lauren learned the importance of being patient and flexible while conducting research, and even though the medical support she could provide her Ghanaian patients was limited, she learned the importance of being empathetic and listening to their unique experiences. Lauren will graduate in May 2017. She plans to gain experience working as a registered nurse in acute care before studying to become a nurse practitioner and specializing in wound care. She hopes that her Inquiry article will help inform readers, many of whom know someone with diabetes themselves, about the importance of proper diabetes education and treatment.