Helping to establish a change in care at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester is no small feat, and that was just one of the results of Viterbo University graduate student Kaitlyn Jenne’s Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) research project “Exploring Strategies for Successful Smoking Cessation Post-Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery.”

Jenne was also selected to present her findings at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery national conference in Washington, D.C. June 15–19.

“I’m excited,” said Jenne, who will be traveling to the nation’s capital with her fiancé. “I’ve never been there before. I have some good results to share.”

As part of her research, Jenne developed questions and interviewed 41 Mayo gastric bypass surgery (the popular weight loss procedure) patients about their possible return to smoking. Patients are required to quit at least six weeks prior to their procedures because tobacco use can inhibit healing. Twenty-seven patients reported relapse, and upon analyzing the data with the assistance of a research fellow, several strong predictors were discovered. For example, the patients’ starting weights, income levels, and history of substance abuse were all predictive of the likelihood of their return to smoking post-surgery.

Jenne, who works as an internal travel nurse for Mayo Clinic, earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Winona State University in 2018. She enrolled in the Viterbo University DNP program with the goal of becoming a family nurse practitioner. Viterbo was recommended by a friend and co-worker who graduated from the university.

“The DNP program is well organized and Viterbo’s close relationship with Mayo makes getting clinical assignments very easy,” said Jenne, who will complete her degree in May 2026. “The faculty have worked as medical professionals, and they support you. They want you to do well and finish the program.”

Becoming a family nurse practitioner in a clinical setting will allow Jenne to build closer relationships with patients and provide more specialized care, two aspects of her planned career advancement she finds most appealing.

“I’m also interested in education and would like to teach a class as an adjunct professor one day,” she said.

Mayo nurse practitioner and Viterbo University adjunct professor Julia Jurgensen served as Jenne’s faculty advisor on the project, helping her to select a project and submit it for approval by Mayo’s internal review board.

“It was a privilege to work with Kaitlyn,” Jurgensen said. “She took on a project in a field of medicine in which she had little experience, learned a great deal, and provided the medical practice with useful information. This experience creating a project and presenting it at a national conference is setting her up for an excellent career as a nurse practitioner who will lead projects and represent her workplace at the national level.”

As result of the project, Mayo surgery staff will now meet with gastric bypass patients at their nine-month post-surgery appointment and check for signs of smoking.

“This is exactly the outcome we aim for with our DNP students—to be able to disseminate their findings whether it be at national conferences and/or publications,” said Michele Merten, director of the graduate nursing programs at Viterbo University. “A requirement to earn their degree, the DNP project provides students with the foundation for conducting quality improvement projects and participating in research, and most importantly, will help them to improve health care practices and patient health outcomes.”