Jewel Hernandez standing in front of her poster presentation at the NAPNAP conference in Orlando, FL
Author: Jewel Hernandez | Major: Nursing | Semester: Spring 2023
My name is Jewel Hernandez, and I am a senior majoring in Nursing. I am one of Dr. Michele Kilmer’s honor students that have been working with her and her canine Gryffin since the Spring of 2022. My research thesis is “Investigating the Human-Animal Bond Between Children at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder and a Therapy Canine.” Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) in pediatric autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is in its infancy, so there is a paucity of research documenting the child’s behavior during the AAT sessions. My research pertains to evaluating the pediatric participants’ interaction with and response to the therapy canine. To date, the human-animal interaction between a therapy canine and children from varying cultural groups has not been investigated, so my research also investigates patterns among the pediatric participants from various cultural groups.
The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) is the first professional society for nurse practitioners and remains the only national organization dedicated to both advancing the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) role and improving the quality of healthcare for pediatrics. For more than 40 years, the organization comes together at their annual conference to learn the latest in evidenced-based research; thus, my team and I traveled to Orlando, FL during March 14-17th to present a poster on our research about animal-assisted therapy at the NAPNAP’s annual conference. Attending this conference allowed me to share my findings with other experts in the discipline, incite my advocacy for therapy canines, and promote evidence-based strategies to address prosocial behavior deficits and emotional dysregulation. As a nursing student, I am always striving to integrate the best practices in my nursing education to promote my own professional success. Presenting at this conference allowed me to develop my professional skills, such as refining my communication skills, keeping my audience engaged, and presenting with precision that helps outline my research’s purpose and notable aspects. I was able to network with nursing students, pediatric nurse practitioners, family nurse practitioners, and other pediatric focused APRNs. During our poster presentation, my team received high praise and positive feedback. Several of the experts that we presented to were surprised at how concise our research was, especially because we were students only at a BSN level. We were mistaken for DNP students because our research was the type of research they expected to see in a doctorate program. I could not have thought of a better complement to myself, my team, and the COEHP Honors program.
The past 1.5 years, I have been able to contribute to the nursing profession by conducting research, critically analyzing the data, translating the research findings, and integrating the evidence into nursing practice. I am so thankful for my involvement in this project and the opportunity to present my research findings to pediatric healthcare leaders across the nation. For any student considering attending a conference to defend their thesis, I highly recommend following through. The entire experience will prove to be rewarding and humbling!
After graduation, I will be working at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, where I have accepted a job in the neonatal intensive care unit. I am so blessed to continue working in the pediatric field where I can continue to express my dedication to improving the quality of health care.