Kathryn Tart

Kathryn Tart, founding dean of the University of Houston-Victoria School of Nursing, recently received the Scientific Poster Award for a presentation she and a colleague made in March. The presentation was part of the Parry Lectureship and Research Day at the Texas Woman's University Institute of Health Sciences-Houston Center.

The poster, titled "Predictors of Student Nurse Academic Performance: Influence of Health Status, Faculty Support and Student Stress," graphically presented ongoing research by Tart and a colleague, Ann Malecha.

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"Students do poorly on academic performance when they don't feel they have faculty support, when they have poor health and when they feel stressed," Tart said. "It behooves faculty to support students and help them identify sources of stress."

Tart is a co-investigator on a four-year study about how these factors negatively affect nurses academically and professionally. The first two years of the study focused on the nursing school experience, while the remaining two years will monitor how the same factors affect students in their professional careers.

The data from the first two years of research showing the link were translated onto a 4-by-6-foot poster, which Tart and Malecha presented at the conference.

The display was pitted against some 24 other posters selected from across the state to present at the event. Many more scholars competed for the presenter slots, she said.

As the research continues, Tart plans to follow nurses into the first two years of their careers. The next phase of the research will focus on developing effective ways to intervene with nursing students to help promote healthy lifestyles and the related strong academic and professional performance.

Tart started the research while serving as the baccalaureate coordinator for the nursing program at Texas Woman's University at the Texas Medical Center in Houston.

She began Sept. 1 as the first dean of the UHV School of Nursing.