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The ASU College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation has the distinction of having its first Fulbright Scholar, Manal Al-Zadjali from Oman. She is enrolled in the Master of Science in Community Health program and will become the first master's degree-prepared community health nurse in her country upon graduation.

Al-Zadjali is working with Gail Petersen, director of the Breaking the Cycle (BTC) Community Health Care, an ASU academic nursing center in downtown Phoenix . As a component of her coursework, Al-Zadjali developed a research-based intervention for obesity for the primarily Hispanic population that receives reproductive health care services at the center.

Research on obesity is accelerating in response to its rise as a major public health crisis. Obesity is one of the major causes of death in the United States and Oman . It affects all racial, ethnic and socio-economic groups and can significantly contribute to a variety of chronic diseases.

More than 95 percent of BTC's clients are Hispanic, live below the federal poverty guidelines and have no health insurance. These health disparities put them at even greater risk for chronic disease.

During the spring 2006 semester, Al-Zadjali calculated the body mass index (BMI) on a random sample of 10 percent of the health records of clients who accessed care at BTC in 2005. Her study found that about 63 percent of center clients were obese or overweight.

She analyzed her findings, comparing them to national, state and local statistics, and her next step will be to design an evidence-based, culturally appropriate intervention to reduce obesity among BTC's population.

The college's five academic nursing centers are sites in which faculty and students can cultivate research and evidence-based interventions, with the goal of improving the health and well-being of the community. The BTC center provides clinical rotations and mentorship for more than 50 graduate students each year.

Al-Zadjali's goal is to return to Oman with an education that will enable her to develop evidence-based practice interventions. She aims to reduce chronic disease in her country, particularly diabetes.

“My career goal is to work in a profession in which I can serve people who need it the most,” she says.

Al-Zadjali graduated as the salutorian of her class at the Muscat Nursing Institute in Oman , then received a scholarship from Oman 's Ministry of Health to study for her bachelor's degree in nursing at Villanova University . After graduating in 2002 with a bachelor's degree, she taught at the Oman Nursing Institute for three years before receiving a Fulbright Scholarship to obtain a master's degree in nursing.

Al-Zadjali began her study at East Carolina University as a distance learning student but transferred to ASU to receive classroom and community-based experience.

“ASU has become my favorite place, because it cares about its students and their needs,” she says. “My education at ASU will improve my ability to advocate for my people in my future role with the Ministry of Health.”

Al-Zadjali plans to return to Oman when she graduates this spring. She hopes to expand her role by working in Community Health to further develop the health care system of her country.

“I would like to teach community health nursing at all levels in our nursing education system, as well as advance the role of the nurse in primary healthcare,” she says.

Al-Zadjali will be the first master's degree-prepared community health nurse when she returns to her country. She will take what she has learned at ASU back to Oman to focus her efforts on, as she states it, “health for all.”