Eye on the Y: Nursing students learn from alumni, BYU professor researches automobiles, Q&A session about cold and flu medicine

The BYU College of Nursing and their alumni board hosted a speed "nurseworking" event on Tuesday, Jan. 16, allowing students to connect with and learn from the school’s alumni. 

BYU College of Nursing helps students connect with alumni at speed ‘nurseworking’ event

The BYU College of Nursing and their alumni board hosted a speed “nurseworking” event on Tuesday, Jan. 16, allowing students to connect with and learn from the school’s alumni. 

During the event, students met with alumni scattered across different tables and rotated every 15 minutes. There were five rotations, giving BYU nursing students and alumni the opportunity to talk and exchange valuable knowledge and experiences. 

BYU professor conducts vehicle literacy experiment

BYU professor Grant Eckstein conducted a humanities public outreach project about Model A Fords in collaboration with the Utah Valley Model A Club.

In addition to delivering insights about how experts view their automobiles and increasing alumni interest in BYU, the project landed Eckstein an invitation to present his findings at the 2024 National Awards Banquet for the Model A Ford Club of America.

The participants included members of the Utah Valley Model A Ford Club, as well as their friends and family. Prior to the experiment, participants ranked themselves, based on their knowledge of Model A Fords, as either experts or non-experts.

Participants were then asked to identify certain elements within a set of selected images. Eckstein used eye-tracking equipment in BYU’s English Language Center to track the participants’ eye movement and attention.

Eckstein’s hypothesis that club members would distinguish different parts and models among similar vehicles more successfully than their non-expert friends and family was proven true. The results also demonstrated cognitive overload in younger generations, explaining why many club members struggle to pass their love of Fords down to their children and grandchildren. Many participants were BYU alumni, whose love for BYU was “re-sparked” being back on campus.

BYU nursing professor advises students about which medicines to use this cold and flu season

BYU nursing professor Katreena Merrill offered guidance about the best medicines students can use to combat the variety of cold and flu symptoms present during the winter season at a Q&A.

Drawing from research conducted with BYU professor Beth Luthy, Merrill highlighted the importance of checking a medicine’s active ingredients. Generic medicine can work just as well as name brand medicine, as long as it has the correct active ingredients, she said. For example, Merrill recommended looking for Dextromethorphan as the active ingredient in cough suppressants. 

To avoid the common mistake of taking too much medicine, Merrill said students should follow medicine dosages and frequencies, as well as consult their own intuition and revelation when deciding how to follow through with illness.