Bristol grad’s work on vaping recognized
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WARREN -- On the day of her graduation, Jasmine Hickey has much of which to be proud.
The 22-year-old Bristol native and Kent State University at Trumbull nursing student, who graduates today, recently earned regional recognition with an Outstanding Paper and Creative Work award for a poster and research she did regarding the issues of young adults using electronic nicotine delivery systems as it relates to how the product is marketed and those who use the products.
Her poster took second place for the outstanding poster category at the 2021 Mid-East Honors Association conference. The conference included more than 20 colleges and universities from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
"I was interested because we had to do research from something health-care related and I wanted to look at it from a health-care angle," Hickey said. "That's how I got into the marketing side of the research because vaping is growing not only here, but nationwide."
Hickey said with help from faculty, she was able to conduct the research where she received first place at Kent State at Trumbull's student showcase for research, scholarship and creativity and second place at Kent State University Main Campus' undergraduate symposium on research, scholarship and creative endeavors.
She added this wasn't the first time she's entered the competition at Kent Trumbull.
"This is the third time I've entered a project. It was nice to enter this one and win something for it. Having the ability to do my own research and win at Trumbull and then placing second (regionally), it was nice to have it pay off," Hickey said.
Hickey said she got into nursing because she was always interested in the field. Her grandfather was a fire chief in Bristol, and her father is the fire chief in Champion and also is a paramedic.
"I've always wanted to be in health care, and the more I looked into nursing, the more I saw how it was the springboard I needed to get in the field and expand to other health-care fields," she said.
Following her graduation and passage of her exams, Hickey said she will be working with Akron Children's Hospital Mahoning Valley, but plans on going back to school for a master's degree in occupational therapy in the fall.
"I'm looking to go most likely to Walsh University," Hickey said.
BACKGROUND
Hickey, the daughter of John and Cindy Hickey, attended Bristol Local Schools and also attended Trumbull Career and Technical Center her junior and senior years, with a focus on exercise science and sports medicine.
She was a Twenty Under 20 nominee in 2016, when she also was a top 5 finalist. The program, sponsored by the Tribune Chronicle, honors high school students for their academic accomplishments, leadership roles and volunteer service.
In high school, she was involved in Beta Club, National Honor Society, band and was a member of the soccer team. She also volunteered at Windsor House in Champion and was a member of the teen outreach program at Akron Children's Hospital. She was class vice president and was valedictorian of Bristol High School's Class of 2017.
Her twin sister, Britany, graduated from Youngstown State University in December and works at Baker, Bednar, Snyder & Associates architectural firm in Warren. They also have an older sister, Samantha.
She attends Bristol United Methodist Church.
THE RESEARCH
As a 22-year-old, Hickey said this research was important to let people in her age range know the dangers of using ENDS products. For her own research, she said she chose 16- to 24-year-olds.
"We chose anyone between 16-24 because we wanted to hit that young, adult-age student," Hickey said. "The end results were for 16- to 24-year-olds and those in Trumbull County and the surrounding counties in Ohio and Pennsylvania."
To deliver a survey, Hickey said she used social media and email chains through the Kent State system for students. She said she wanted to make sure there were no discrepancies, so she received Institutional Review Board approval from the Food and Drug Administration, so individuals under 18 could be allowed to participate.
From her findings, Hickey was surprised to see how split the participants were regarding whether they had used these products. Her findings show 50 percent of those surveyed had used them before and 49 percent had not. Also, she found of those who have used ENDS products, 23 percent were influenced by seeing their peers or family use the product, 22 percent found the product to have appealing flavors and six percent cited the packaging of the product.
Another surprising find from her research was that women typically used the products more than men.
"It seemed like a stereotype of primarily males using it, so seeing the numbers indicate women using the product was surprising," Hickey said.
Aside from showing the dangers to her age group, Hickey said this topic is a rising issue for those around her age.
"If you go out anywhere, you will see so many people around my age using the product, and you hear about people using them and how 'creative' the people were to conceal using the product. I thought it was very relevant because they market it as a safe alternative," Hickey said. "In some cases it's true, but in other cases it's more harmful. Examining this as a nursing student, I wanted to provide education on health risks related to nicotine use and the negative impact that misleading product marketing can have on a patient's health. Vape stores are everywhere, and I wanted to share my research to encourage young adults to know the risks."