An Ounce of Prevention

Crystina Baetz (RN), a Nursing major in Verrazano Honors' Class of 2018, Helps Train Nursing Students on Cervical Cancer Prevention

As a Verrazano student at the College of Staten Island, and in order to graduate with Verrazano Honors, I was required to complete a Capstone Project that would build my knowledge and interest in my field. I am a nurse and nursing student, so I chose to complete a project in this field. By working closely with my mentor, Dr. Arlene Farren, Chair of the Nursing Department at the College of Staten Island, I identified a prevalent issue in current healthcare. With Dr. Farren’s guidance, I developed an educational program titled, “Preparing Nursing Students to Contribute to Cervical Cancer Prevention: An Educational Program,” and used the feedback from this program to complete the report, Preparing Nursing Students to Contribute to Cervical Cancer Prevention: An Educational Program Review.

            I had never had a passion for cervical cancer prevention, and I have never known anyone who had it. I began thinking about the issue of cancer prevention in the spring of 2017, when working with Dr. Farren on the Staten Island Performing Provider System’s (PPS) Cancer Prevention in Communities Initiative. On this project, we researched things such as cancer prevention measures and the availability of health services in the 10305 and 10306 zip codes in Staten Island. When reviewing the literature for this project, I found cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention to be a major current topic that was left out of PPS’s project. I saw this as an opportunity to shine a light on this relatively unknown disease, and to contribute what I could to its prevention.

            Although I had written literature reviews and other long, scholarly papers before, this project was very unique to me. I spent several weeks with Dr. Farren reviewing and critiquing the PowerPoint for the educational program. I would have never guessed the amount of work that went into a 30-slide presentation! I also was glad to have Dr. Farren’s guidance in setting up my presentation’s date, time, and how to advertise.  I found it interesting to then write my Capstone Project paper and include the results from my own work! I must admit that I greatly enjoyed grading the pre and post information surveys, and creating tables from this information.

Crystina presents at the Undergraduate Research Conference

            I do not plan on stopping my work on cervical cancer prevention once I turn in my Capstone Project. I presented my program again in early December to a medical/surgical nursing class at the College of Staten Island. I hope to use the results of this presentation and others in the future to continue developing my program review paper. Dr. Farren and I plan to present our results on a board at the College of Staten Island’s Undergraduate Research Conference in the spring of 2018. It is also our hope, after continuing our efforts on the paper, to submit it for publishing. Long term, I would like to continue developing and giving this presentation to nursing students at the College of Staten Island and elsewhere.

            Overall, I believe it was beneficial for me to complete this Capstone Project. I not only will graduate Verrazano Honors and departmental honors, but have also fostered a personal relationship with an academic mentor. Most importantly, I was able to increase my knowledge of an important issue in healthcare, and use the skills I’ve gained throughout my college career to formulate a contribution to this issue. Completing this Capstone Project made me proud to be a Verrazano and nursing student, and excited for what is to come!