USF Nursing’s Debra Gottel Named CREATE Scholar for Fall 2012

University of South Florida College of Nursing Instructor, Debra Gottel, MSN, MHS, RN, was recently named a CREATE scholar for the Fall 2012 semester. Developed by the USF Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR), the CREATE scholarship program helps stimulate interest and activities in research among undergraduate students. OUR also offers small grant opportunities and support for undergraduate research incorporated within didactic courses.

Debra Gottel, MSN, MHS, RN

“This is a very exciting project for the College of Nursing,” Gottel said. “This will be a great opportunity to stimulate interest in research among the undergraduate students, as well as a wonderful opportunity for the students to add research experience to their portfolios in order to gain a competitive edge when applying for jobs or further education.”

Gottel received a grant to mentor students from the psychiatric mental health nursing course during a period of two semesters. CREATE will help fund accessories, including MP-3 players and headphones, to accompany a virtual hallucination system. The program is also funding a graduate student to mentor research activities.

“The group of students will be designing a research project based on the virtual hallucination exercise,” Gottel said. “It will span two semesters, and will culminate in a poster presentation at the USF undergraduate research symposium in the spring.”

For more information on CREATE and USF Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) visit http://lib.usf.edu/undergraduate-research/.