At APNA, Sarret is presenting about associations between substance use and trauma among healthcare providers. She became interested in the health and welfare of healthcare providers while working as a nurse aid. “I often saw the effects of violence and traumatic events impacting my coworkers and sought to help support the many needs of healthcare providers,” Sarret said. She plans to continue examining factors associated with healthcare workers' health outcomes and clarify possible targets for tailored interventions for improving these health outcomes. Her APNA presentation will air on Friday, October 15th from 1:10-1:35 PM EST. Her coauthors are Heather Robertson, Dr. Janet Otachi, and Dr. Zim Okoli.
Behind the Researcher: Sarret Seng
Sarret Seng received her BSN from the University of Kentucky College of Nursing (UK CON) in 2019. During her undergraduate career, she worked for the UK CON Behavioral Health Wellness Environments for Living and Learning (BH WELL) research team and as a peer tutor for the Work Learning Program (WLP), an academic-practice partnership between UK CON, UK HealthCare, Eastern State Hospital, and BH WELL. Within and beyond this work, Sarret observed research projects of nursing faculty members who seemed like family. They collaborated on projects together to strengthen each other’s research and showed commitment to academic excellence and growth. Sarret decided to return to the UK CON as a Nursing Ph.D. student with the belief that the program will develop her as an independent professional researcher and foster critical thinking skills. Along with her Ph.D., she is pursuing a master’s degree in Public Health. Along with her coursework, she works as a graduate research assistant for the BH WELL research team. She expects to graduate from UK in May 2024.
Sarret has always enjoyed studying the brain and the consequences of substance use. Her background in behavioral neuroscience evolved into direct patient work shadowing healthcare professionals. During these patient interactions, she discovered a great need for research among psychiatric patients. With her research, Sarret is seeking to lay the foundations for interventions that improve health outcomes among patient populations living with severe and persistent mental illness and the providers who care for these populations. This aspiration has given Sarret several research interest areas to improve mental healthcare delivery and engagement.