The 9th annual Nursing Research Conference brought nurses from all over Utah to Weber State University Friday. The conference featured four different speakers who all spoke about their research.

The conference was sponsored by Intermountain Healthcare, Weber State University’s school of nursing, Weber State’s Dumke College of Health Professions, MountainStar and Sigma Theta Tau International Nu Nu Chapter.

Susan Thornock, the chair of the WSU School of Nursing, explained how great it is to have these sponsors.

“This is the first time MountainStar has been a sponsor,” she said. “And thanks to our sponsors the conference is able to provide a great free event, which includes breakfast and lunch for all those in attendance.”

The nursing research conference kicked off with some opening remarks given by Thornock and Kim Henrichsen, the vice president and chief nursing officer for Intermountain Healthcare.

Susan J. Henly, one of two out-of-state speakers at the conference, gave a presentation about the advances and challenges in nursing research, practice and education. Henly is a professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota. Henly has experienced many different areas of nursing science, but her latest research has focused on health over time and modeling health trajectories.

Judith A. Berg, a clinical professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing in Tucson, Arizona, presented on her area of research: women’s health promotion and symptom management strategies across the lifespan.

Janice M. Morse, from the University of Utah, presented research on prevention of patient falls.

Morse’s presentation focused on the height of hospital beds and their relation to preventing falls in hospitals. During her presentation, Morse spoke about how it was time to put some responsibility for patient safety on the engineers and manufacturers.

Barbara L. Wilson, an associate professor and the associate dean for academic program at the University of Utah College of Nursing, also spoke at the conference. Wilson spoke about patient safety in relation to human factors engineering.

Wilson explained in her presentation that human factors engineering is defined as a science that examines which human vulnerabilities lead to mistakes. A few of the factors mentioned were reducing the reliance on memory and simplifying tasks and processes. Wilson spoke about how these factors can help reduce the risk of error on the side of the caregivers.

The nursing research conference gave nurses and students an opportunity to learn more about research techniques and the steps that must be taken once their research is complete.