Dr. Blackwell spent several days in Arlington, Virginia last week completing work related to his appointment to the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP)Board Certification Examination Item Writing Panel. The retreat took place at Convene in the Pentagon City neighborhood and included item writing panels for all 17 of ANCC’s Board-Certification specialty exams.
Participating with Dr. Blackwell were clinicians and Faculty from Vanderbilt, UCF (Blackwell), Virginia, Emory, and NY Touro University. The panelists are pictured below. The items written by the panel will now be reviewed by ANCC’s psychometrics experts and the AGACNP Content Expert Panel before being finalized for placement on the AGACNP exam as “Pretest Items.” Items that score well statistically during this phase are eventually added to the AGACNP Board Certification Examination and/or the exam’s test bank.
Filed under: Performing Arts — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 15:17
The phenomenal musical Kimberly Akimbo took home Tony gold Sunday night at the 76th Annual Awards Ceremony for the American Theatre Wing. The show was crowned Best Musical and its star, Victoria Clark, took home her second Tony award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical while Bonnie Milligan took the prize for Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. David Lindsay-Abaire also won the Tony for Best Book for Kimberly Akimbo and shared the award for Best Original Score with Jeanine Tesori. As described by the American Theater Wing:
Kimberly Akimbo is the new musical from Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire and Tony Award-winner Jeanine Tesori that follows Kim, a bright and funny Jersey teen, who happens to look like a 72-year-old lady. And yet her aging disease may be the least of her problems. Forced to maneuver family secrets, borderline personalities, and possible felony charges, Kim is determined to find happiness in a world where not even time is on her side.
Check out the Tony Award show performance of, “Anagram” from Kimberly Akimbo below:
Filed under: Popular Music — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 00:42
Legendary pop superstar Kylie Minogue has released the first single off her upcoming album Tension. Entitled, “Padam Padam,” the song features an insanely catchy rift and steamy lyrics suggesting an unforgettable one night stand with her just might get your heart pounding. Said Minogue of her upcoming album:
“I started this album with an open mind and a blank page. Unlike my last two albums there wasn’t a “theme,” it was about finding the heart or the fun or the fantasy of that moment and always trying to service the song. I wanted to celebrate each song’s individuality and to dive into that freedom. I would say it’s a blend of personal reflection, club abandon and melancholic high.”
Tension is released worldwide from BMG records on September 22nd. Check out the video for, “Padam Padam” below:
Dr. Blackwell was honored on Saturday April 15th, 2023 as the recipient of the UCF College of Nursing 2023 Outstanding Knight Nurse Award in Education. The award:
Recognizes nursing educators and/or faculty for sharing knowledge, creating and cultivating an environment that supports life-long learning, using innovative teaching strategies, utilizing evidence-based practice in clinical areas, and focusing on scholarly research and dissemination within clinical settings.
A decades-long educator and four-time alumnus of the UCF College of Nursing, Christopher Blackwell is currently an associate professor and program director for the Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program, which he established in 2014. Blackwell is well known for his student-centered teaching philosophy, using innovative course materials, interactive resources and multimedia presentations to engage students and ensure the best possible learning experience. His students consistently give him high praise for making difficult material easier to understand. Blackwell’s dedication extends beyond the classroom as he mentors students to help them achieve their academic and professional goals. As a Knight nurse, he shines bright in his dedication to his students, his commitment to academic excellence, and in mentoring future generations.
In addition, Dr. Blackwell is a recipient of the 2023 Teaching Incentive Program Award from the College of Nursing, an award he has also received in 2011 and 2017.
Filed under: Nursing Science — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 22:50
Work based on results from a study conducted by an interdisciplinary research team, which included Dr. Blackwell, will be published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, one of the profession’s premiere academic journals. The article, entitled, Provider Cultural Competence and Humility in Healthcare Interactions with Transgender and Nonbinary Young Adults, looks at how transgender individuals perceive care by nurses and other healthcare providers. The abstract appears below:
Abstract
Purpose: Transgender and non-binary patients experience many barriers when seeking quality healthcare services, including ineffective communication and negative relationships with their providers, as well as a lack of provider competence (including knowledge, training, and experience) and humility in treating gender-diverse individuals. The purpose of this qualitative research study involved identifying factors associated with cultural competence and humility that facilitate and impede effective relationships between gender diverse young adults and their healthcare providers.
Methods: Data came from individual interviews with 60 young adults aged 18 to 26 from Florida who self-identified as transgender or non-binary. After developing a codebook, all data were coded. We analyzed the data using thematic and Grounded Theory-based approaches, and a feminist perspective, to identify themes associated with patient-provider relationships.
Conclusions: We identified 4 themes related to patient-provider relationships: (1) Participants indicated effective patient-provider communication and relationships are facilitated by providers requesting and utilizing gender-diverse patients’ correct names and personal pronouns. (2) Participant narratives conveyed their preferences that providers “follow their lead” in terms of how they described their own anatomy, reinforcing the utility of cultural humility as an approach for interactions with gender-diverse patients. (3) Participants also discussed the detrimental effects of gender-diverse patients having to educate their own providers about their identities and needs, suggesting clinicians’ competence regarding gender diversity is paramount to fostering and maintaining patient comfort. (4) Finally, participants’ responses indicated concerns regarding the confidentiality and privacy of the information they provided to their providers, suggesting a lack of trust detrimental to the process of building rapport between patients and their providers.
Clinical Relevance: Our findings indicate balancing the use of cultural humility and cultural competence during clinical encounters with gender-diverse young adults can improve providers’ relationships with these young people. Nursing education is often devoid of focus on caring for transgender persons. Additional provider training and education on approaching clinical encounters with gender-diverse young people with cultural humility and competence should improve patient-provider communication and relationships.
Filed under: Nursing Science — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 01:14
Dr. Blackwell and colleagues will have their original article, “Mpox in the United States: Current Trends and Implications for Public Health Nursing” published in the journal Public Health Nursing. The team behind the work included Drs. Rodney Hicks (Professor & Associate Dean for Research & Administration, Western University College of Graduate Nursing [Pomona, CA, Dr. Humberto Lopez Castillo (UCF College of Medicine and College of Health Professions and Sciences), Dr. Mindi Anderson (UCF College of Nursing) and Dr. Frank Guido-Sanz (UCF College of Nursing). The scientists scoured the data regarding the mpox outbreak in the US, provided close examination of current and past epidemiological prevalence and incidence trends (including vaccination trend data), and provided very important guidance for public health nursing and other clinicians regarding mpox prevention and vaccination. The abstract for the article appears below:
In 2022, mpox, an orthopoxvirus first isolated in 1958 in cynomolgus monkeys, became a global public health threat. While the virus can be communicated through skin-to-skin contact from any infected person to non-infected person, most cases in the United States have been in gay and bisexual men. Consequently, early public health and community-based efforts concentrated on reducing infections in this population. This article explores current mpox case count epidemiologic data and trends. In addition, vaccination indications, contraindications, adverse events, and national administration data are provided along with directions for nurses and other clinicians moving forward in the outbreak.
Dr. Blackwell was a recent featured guest on the Care to Lead Podcast, by Vizient. Care to Lead features key interviews with nursing leaders across a variety of settings and industries who share their candid stories, how they help spur nursing innovation in their respective fields, and what nurses in any stage of their career can do to shape the present and future of nursing. The podcast is hosted by Dr. Barbara Seymour and sponsored by the Vizient Chief Nurse Executives Network. Take a listen to the episode by following the URL below. Note, to access the link, open it in a new window by right clicking for that option or copy + paste into your browser:
Filed under: UCF Sports — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 03:08
The UCF Knights (9-4; 6-2 AAC) have begun preparations for their appearance in the Military Bowl in Annapolis, MD on December 28th. The Knights will square-up against the Blue Devils of Duke (8-4; 5-3 ACC) who placed 3rd in the ACC Coastal Division. Kickoff is set for 2pm and the game will be nationally-televised on ESPN.
Per the AAC:
UCF (9-4) will meet Atlantic Coast Conference representative Duke (8-4) at 2 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, in 34,000-seat Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, in the Military Bowl presented by Peraton, benefiting the USO. The game will be televised by ESPN.
It’s a program-record seventh consecutive postseason bowl appearance for the Knights, the 10th in 11 seasons and the 14th in 18 years. UCF also previously played in the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1987 and in the NCAA FCS Playoffs in 1990 and 1993.
The Knights previously have played twice each in the Fiesta Bowl (following 2014 and 2018 seasons), Liberty Bowl (2007 and 2010), St. Petersburg Bowl (2009 and 2014) and Gasparilla Bowl (2019 and 2021) and once each in the Hawaii Bowl (2005), Beef O’Brady’s Bowl (2012), Cure Bowl (2016), Peach Bowl (2017) and Boca Raton Bowl (2020).
The Military Bowl has been played since 2008—the first two seasons as the EagleBank Bowl and then as the Military Bowl beginning with the 2010 campaign. The game benefits the USO and Patriot Point, the Military Bowl Foundation’s 294-acre retreat for wounded, ill and injured service members, their families and caregivers.
Previous American Athletic Conference participation has included Navy in 2008, 2015 and 2017, Temple in 2009, 2016 and 2019, East Carolina in 2010 and 2021 and Cincinnati in 2014 and 2018. The 2020 game was cancelled due to lack of available teams and the 2021 game also was cancelled due to Covid-related issues. The game originally was played at RFK Memorial Stadium through 2012, then moved to Annapolis. The game has featured an ACC-vs.-AAC matchup since 2014, and those leagues have contracted to continue that matchup through 2025. Previous AAC winners have been Navy in 2015 and 2017 and Cincinnati in 2018.
UCF head coach Gus Malzahn has seen his teams qualify for postseason bowl games in all 11 years he has been a head coach, including seven appearances in New Year’s Day games: 2013 in BCS National Championship Game vs. Florida State, 2014 in Outback Bowl vs. Wisconsin, 2015 in Birmingham Bowl win vs. Memphis, 2016 in Sugar Bowl vs. Oklahoma, 2017 in Peach Bowl vs. UCF, 2018 in Music City Bowl win vs. Purdue, 2019 Outback Bowl vs. Minnesota, 2021 Gasparilla Bowl vs. Florida and 2022 Military vs. Duke. Malzahn’s 2012 Arkansas State team qualified for a bowl game—but he already had accepted the head coaching job at Auburn and did not coach the bowl game. He also did not coach the Auburn bowl game after the 2020 season after leading the Tigers to the Citrus Bowl vs. Northwestern.
UCF and Duke will meet for the first time. This marks the second time UCF has faced a current ACC member in a bowl game—following NC State’s win over the Knights in the 2014 St. Petersburg Bowl.
The Sons of UCF Live interviewed Josh Barr, the Executive Director for the 2022 Military Bowl, on Monday. The interview is below:
Filed under: UCF Sports — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 02:57
The UCF Knights (9-3; 6-2 AAC) fought off a second half comeback bid by the S. Florida Bulls (1-11; 0-8 AAC) on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium (home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers). Their 46-39 win cements UCF as the victor for the War on I-4 rivalry, giving the Knights 7 wins to S. Florida’s 6 wins for the series. UCF’s move to the Big XII next season effectively kills S. Florida’s rivalry with UCF until at least 2028 due to scheduling conflicts. The win also brings the Knights back to New Orleans to face the Green Wave of Tulane (10-2; 7-1 AAC) for the AAC Championship Game on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 4pm and the game will be broadcasted on ABC. Per the AAC:
A matchup of top-25 teams is set for the 2022 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game presented by RoofClaim as No 19 Tulane will meet No. 22 UCF for the conference title Saturday at Yulman Stadium on the Tulane campus.
The American Football Championship Game will be held Saturday, Dec. 3, at 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT. The championship game will be televised live on ABC for the eighth consecutive season.
Tulane clinched its spot as well as home-field advantage Friday with a 27-24 win at Cincinnati that left the Green Wave atop The American standings at 7-1 in conference play and 10-2 overall.
The Knights, who needed a win against South Florida in their regular-season finale Saturday to clinch their spot, scored a 46-39 victory in the War On I-4 matchup.
Tulane will make its first appearance in The American Championship Game, while UCF plays in the game for the third time. The Knights won the championship game in their previous two appearances, in 2017 and 2018.
Tickets for the 2022 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game will be made available through the ticket offices of the participating institutions.
The latest information on the 2022 American Football Championship will be available on the conference’s Championship Central site at http://www.theamerican.org/football
Check out video highlights of UCF’s win over S. Florida, courtesy of the AAC, below:
