OEHN Research

Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing addresses numerous research areas identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Program Portfolio including several National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) cross-industry sector programs as listed below.

Injuries and Work-Related Violence
Special Populations at Risk: Women and Children
Work Organization
Total Worker Health

Please also see examples of Research to Practice conducted by all Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety (MCOHS) faculty and students.

FACULTY RESEARCH

Dr. Pat McGovern’s research investigates occupational and environmental health issues, in particular, issues addressing women’s well-being and work. Current projects include testing a wellness intervention for caregivers in the health care and social service industry, evaluating salon workers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices related to chemical workplace exposures, and a case study of stress and resilience among farmers and farm workers exposed to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (Avian Flu). Past efforts have focused on women in the workplace and policies impacting breastfeeding practices, use of family leave and maternal postpartum health.

RECENT STUDENT DISSERTATIONS

(Student Names Underscored)

Graeve, C. (2016) Necessary Drugs, Unnecessary Consequences: An Intervention to Protect Healthcare Workers from Exposure to Chemotherapy. [Committee members: McGovern, P., (Advisor), Polovich, M., Nachreiner, N., Church, T. and Alexander, B.]

Gramling, J. Protecting the Protectors:Violence-related Injuries to Hospital Security Personnel and the Use of Conducted Electrical Weapons. [Committee members: McGovern, P., (Advisor), Church, T., Nachreiner, N. and Gaugler, J.]

SELECTED OEHN FACULTY, ALUMNI AND STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

(Student and alumni names are underscored and faculty names bolded)

OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES

Schwartz A, Gerberich S, Kim H, Ryan A, Albin T, McGovern PM, Erdman A, Green D, Arauz RF. The Relation between Janitor Physical Workload, Mental Workload, and Stress: the SWEEP Study (In press) Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation.

Green D, Gerberich SG, Kim H, Ryan AD, McGovern PM, Church TR, Schwartz A, Arauz RF: Knowledge of work-related injury reporting and perceived barriers among janitors. Journal of Safety Research. 2019; 69:1-10

Green D, Gerberich SG, Kim H, Ryan AD, McGovern PM, Church TR, Schwartz A, Arauz RF. Janitor workload and occupational injuries. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2019; 62: 222-232.DOI: 10.1002/ajim.22940

Green D, Gerberich SG, Kim H, Ryan AD, McGovern PM, Church TR, Schwartz A, Arauz RF: Occupational injury among janitors: Incidence, severity and association risk factors. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2019; 61(2):153-161.

Landsteiner A, Nyman J, Lindgren P, McGovern P, Alexander B, Williams A. The Economic impact for farm injury in Minnesota, 2004-2010. Journal of Agromedicine. 2016; 21(2):171-7. doi: 10.1080/1059924X.2016.1143904.

INFANT, CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH

Miller NC, McGovern PM, Stepanov I., Rao R, Georgieff M. Maternal manganese exposure and subsequent infant cognition. Minnesota Medicine. 2018 May; 01(3):36-39.

Cigan S, McGovern P, Choudhary K, Miller N, Georgieff M, Rao R, Stepanov I: Toenail manganese as a potential biomarker for in utero and early childhood exposure studies. Scientific Reports. 2018; 8(1):17034.

Wolowic JM, Heston LV, Saewyc EM, Porta C, Eisenberg ME. Chasing the rainbow: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth and pride semiotics. Culture, Health and Sexuality. 2017;19(5):557-571.

Coetzee DJ, McGovern PM, Rao R, Harnack LJ, Georgieff MK, Stepanov I: Measuring the impact of manganese exposure on children’s neurodevelopment: advances and research gaps in biomarker-based approaches. Environmental Health. 2016; 15(1):91.

McGovern PM, Nachreiner NM, Holl JL, Halfon N, Dabelea D, Caulfield L, Cauley JA, Innocenti MS, Amsden L, Markovic N, Riddles M, Adams S. The National Children’s Study (NCS): Early recruitment outcomes using the direct outreach approach. Pediatrics. 2016; 137 Suppl. 4:S231-8.

OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS AND INTERVENTIONS

Gramling JJ, McGovern PM, Church TR, Nachreiner NM, Gaugler JE. Effectiveness of conducted electrical weapons to prevent violence-related injuries in the hospital. Journal of Emergency Nursing. 2018; 44(3):249-257.

Graeve C, McGovern P, Arnold S, Polovich M. Testing a quality improvement intervention to decrease healthcare workers’ exposure to antineoplastic agents. Oncology Nursing Forum. 2017; 44(1):E10-E19.

Graeve C, McGovern P, Alexander B, Church T, Ryan A, Polovich M: Occupational exposure to antineoplastic agents: an analysis of healthcare workers and their environments. Workplace Health and Safety. 2017; 65(1):9-20.

WOMEN'S WORK-RELATED HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Jou J, Kozhimannil KB, Abraham JM, Blewett LA, McGovern PM: Paid Maternity Leave in the United States: Associations with maternal and infant health. Maternal and Child Health Journal. 2018; 22(2):216-225.

Dagher RK, McGovern PM, Schold JD, Randall XJ. Determinants of breastfeeding initiation and cessation among employed mothers: a prospective cohort study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2016; 16(1):194.

Jou J, Kozhimannil KB, Blewett LA, McGovern PM, Abraham JM. Workplace accommodations for pregnant employees: associations with women’s access to health insurance coverage after childbirth. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2016; 58(6):561-6.

Kozhimannil KB, Jou J, Gjerdingen DK, McGovern PM: Access to workplace accommodations to support breastfeeding, after the Affordable Care Act. Women’s Health Issues. 2016; 26(1)3-16.

INNOVATIVE QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Porta (Garcia) CM, Corliss H, Wolowic J, Johnson A, Fogel K, Gower A, Saewyc E & Eisenberg M. Go-along interviewing with LGBTQ youth in Canada and the U.S. Journal of LGBT Youth. 2017; 14(1):1-15.

Porta (Garcia) CM, Allen M, Hurtado A, Padilla M, Arboleda M^, Svetaz M, Balch R, & Sieving R. (2016). Honoring Roots in Multiple Worlds: Professionals’ Perspectives on Healthy Development of Latino Youth. Health Promotion Practice. 2016; 17(2): 186-198.

Porta CM (Garcia), Zhang L, Holt K, Hardeman R & Peterson B. Latina adolescent sleep and mood: An ecological momentary assessment pilot study. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing. 2014; 27(3), 132-141.

Garcia CM (Garcia), Hardeman RR, Kwon G, Lando-King E, Zhang L, et al. Teenagers and texting: use of a youth ecological momentary assessment system in trajectory health research with Latina adolescents. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2014; 2(1):e3.

FACULTY RESEARCH

RECENT STUDENT DISSERTATIONS

SELECTED OEHN FACULTY, ALUMNI AND STUDENT PUBLICATIONS

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