Have you signed up to receive Sharing Nursing’s Knowledge? The monthly Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) e-newsletter will keep you up to date on the latest nursing news, research and trends.  Here are descriptions of some of the stories in the September issue:

Advocates Call on Nurses to Take Leading Role in Palliative Care
The United States is facing a growing need for palliative care, which focuses on symptom relief and optimizing quality of life at all stages of serious illness—but the country has a serious shortage of palliative care providers.  Experts say nurses can help fill the void. Advanced practice registered nurses can provide high quality palliative care, and nurse leadership can help reshape and build the field.

Study: Nurse-Led Intervention Can Dramatically Reduce Deadly, Costly Infections
A study funded by the RWJF Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) reveals that combining several tested and proven practices for preventing central line associated bloodstream infections with a program to improve safety, teamwork and communication can dramatically reduce infection rates. While health care teams using the bundles were interdisciplinary, in each unit, nurses were responsible for ensuring adherence to the intervention.

Nurse’s Mobile App Idea Helps New Parents
Anna Wroble, a nurse and a mother of four in Nevada, recently won a contest sponsored by Dignity Health, a national hospital chain, for her idea for a mobile application that would enable parents to track their babies’ growth during the first year of their lives. The NICU Baby Growth Tracker app—one of three projects that received funding through the contest—became available for free download in August.

2012 RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars: The Next Generation of Leaders in Academic Nursing
Twelve talented and diverse junior nurse faculty from across the country have been chosen as the fifth cohort of RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholars. The award is given to junior faculty who show outstanding promise as future leaders in academic nursing. It is designed to promote their academic careers, support their research, and reduce the severe nurse faculty shortage that is facing the nation. Each scholar receives a three-year $350,000 grant to pursue research, leadership training in all aspects of the faculty role, and mentoring from senior faculty at his or her institution.

See the entire September issue here. Sign up to receive Sharing Nursing’s Knowledge here.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

The Associated Press reports that “as many as 700,000 minority voters under age 30 may be unable to cast a ballot in November because of photo ID laws in certain states.” That’s according to a study led in part by Cathy Cohen, PhD, an alumna of the RWJF Scholars in Health Policy Research program and recipient of an RWJF Investigator Award in Health Policy Research. The story was picked up by CBS News, ABC News, and U.S. News & World Report, among other outlets.

Health Canal reports on a study by grantees of the RWJF Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) that finds combining several tested and proven practices for preventing central line associated bloodstream infections with a program to improve safety, teamwork and communication can dramatically reduce infection rates. Read more about the study.

RWJF Physician Faculty Scholar Deverick J. Anderson, MD, MPH, was a guest on NPR to talk about infection control in hospitals with limited resources.

As fast food chain McDonald's begins posting the calorie counts of its food on menus, Health & Society Scholars alumnus Jason Fletcher, PhD, spoke to the Chattanooga Times Free Press about how the move will affect consumer choices and obesity.

Physician Faculty Scholar Ruchi S. Gupta, MD, MPH, is part of a group of researchers publishing results from a study that concludes children with mild-to-severe food allergies “should be receiving better care, including diagnostic testing and attention to severe allergic reaction symptoms,” Medical News Today reports.

Around the country, print, broadcast and online media outlets are covering the groundbreaking work of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) leaders, scholars, fellows and grantees. Some recent examples:

Forbes named RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, MBA, to its annual list of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.” The list includes political leaders, corporate executives, NGO heads, top government officials and a first lady.

The Academic Progression in Nursing (APIN) program has announced grants to nine states, Nurse.com reports. California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington state will receive two-year, $300,000 grants to advance state and regional strategies aimed at creating a more highly educated, diverse nursing workforce. Read more about the APIN grants.

City Biz List Baltimore reports on the selection of Jason E. Farley, PhD, MPH, CRNP, to be a 2012 RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholar. He is among the 12 talented junior nurse faculty members chosen for the highly competitive program. Read more about the new cohort of Nurse Faculty Scholars.

RWJF Physician Faculty Scholars alumnus Deverick J. Anderson, MD, MPH, spoke to the Associated Press about hospital infection control and “superbugs,” or antibiotic-resistant germs. The story was picked up by USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, and CBS News, among other outlets.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Nursing honored the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action with one of its “Nurse 21 Awards” at its second annual gala, Nurse.com reports.

Are you signed up to receive Sharing Nursing’s Knowledge? The monthly Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) e-newsletter will keep you up to date on the latest nursing news, research and trends. Here are descriptions of some of the stories in the February issue:

United States in Search of Nurses with Geriatrics Training

As the leading edge of the baby boomers reach retirement age, there aren’t enough nurses with competencies in geriatric care to meet the surging need for their services. One of the key ways to ensure that nurses are able to provide optimal care for the elderly is to include geriatric content in nursing school curricula, experts say, and some efforts are underway to make that happen.

“Texas Team” Hits the Ground Running

Although only recently dubbed an Action Coalition, the “Texas Team” has been working to increase the capacity of nurse education in the state for years. Now, as they work to advance recommendations in the Institute of Medicine’s Future of Nursing report, they have recruited more than 120 partner organizations from business, health care, academia, and other sectors.

Nurse-Led Program Helps Young, At-Risk Moms and Babies

Learn about the Nurse-Family Partnership, which sends nurses into the homes of new teen mothers to provide assistance, guidance and support. This highly successful evidence-based program is improving child health, developmental and maternal outcomes, and increasing the young women’s self-sufficiency. Now operating in 34 states, the Nurse-Family Partnership has touched the lives of more than 140,000 mothers and families since receiving a $10 million grant from RWJF in 1999.

Nurse-Scientist Explores Ways to Prevent Patient Safety Events in the Operating Room

Read a profile of RWJF Nurse Faculty Scholar alumna AkkeNeel Talsma, whose research explores how perioperative practices, processes and staffing policies may contribute to postoperative infections. Talsma and her colleagues are currently collecting data from a network of Michigan hospitals to learn how their nurses prepare patients’ skin for surgery, and linking these processes with patient outcomes. They are sharing the results among participating hospitals to initiate local improvement projects.

See the entire February issue here. Sign up to receive Sharing Nursing’s Knowledge here.

Two RWJF Scholar alums have received significant grant awards recently. The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities has awarded an R21 grant to RWJF New Connections alumna Eunice Wong, Ph.D. (2007) for her research project, “Enhancing the Role of Black Churches in Addressing Substance Use.” Wong is an associate behavioral scientist at the Rand Corporation.

Also, Jeremiah Schuur, M.D., M.H.S., an alum of the RWJF Clinical Scholars program (2005-2007), has received a $1 million grant from HHS’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Schuur’s three-year research project will focus on reducing health care associated infections, and will be run from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he works in the Department of Emergency Medicine.