Three undergraduate students at the University of South Carolina College of Nursing presented their research at the National Collegiate Research Conference (NCRC). The conference takes place annually at Harvard University. Juniors Bailey Goldschmidt, Natalie Trimble, and Rose Ferguson shared their research and experiences.

“Presenting at Harvard was an amazing opportunity to share this research with my peers, talk about our shared experiences and see the great studies other undergraduates are working on,” says Goldschmidt. “My research focuses on the transition from pediatric to adult health care among college students. There is a lot of variation in how students, parents and pediatricians approach this important transitional period.”

All three nursing students are in the honors program. They each attended the conference through the Magellan Scholarship Fund. 

“It was a weekend full of passion for learning and research where I was able to connect with many students across the globe,” says Ferguson. “My research is about the knowledge and bias against sexual assault cases in the Emergency Department by nurses due to on-the-job training. I hope to learn more about how to improve training for sexual assault cases so that nurses feel more comfortable in their roles and patients receive a higher quality of care.”

Trimble tied her research to her own personal experience growing up as a military  child.

“I am researching the experiences of TRICARE beneficiaries and the pediatric specialty referral process. I have firsthand experience on how moving every one to two years impacts the health of military kids,” says Trimble. “I realized that there are very few student nurse researchers despite the fact that the nursing profession is shaped by evidence-based practice. It is crucial to positive patient care outcomes that nurses are continually involved in research."