This is part of the April 2013 issue of Sharing Nursing's Knowledge.

“A nurse practitioner may be in your future — if he or she is not already in your present. This is a kind of super-nurse, who’s gone through four years of nursing school plus at least two more years of training in diagnosing and treating disease. Nurse practitioners may specialize in women’s health, pediatrics or cardiac care … I went to a superb nurse practitioner for years... When I had a complaint she considered beyond her expertise, out came her pad and the name of a specialist to call. Her accessibility was a big plus… Cutting health-care costs—and making health-care services more convenient for consumers—demands moving basic medical services away from hospitals and, in many cases, doctors’ offices. Sometimes we need a doctor; sometimes we don’t. A well-trained nurse practitioner can help point us in the right direction.”
-- Froma Harrop, Nurse Practitioners Can Help Save Big Health-Care Dollars, Columbus Dispatch, March 30, 2013

“I have watched my daughter, Sam, in action several times. She has volunteered for several years during the flu shot clinics at the health department. But her finest moments were the ones taking care of her dad while he was dying.  The tenderness and careful attention she gave him was indescribable … I imagine she gives that kind of care to all her patients. She has sat with families while they waited on their loved one to pass. She has encouraged dying people to go with confidence and poise. Going through it with her dad has given her a special love for helping the dying to die peacefully. Going the extra mile is important in any professional field. In the nursing field, it is the difference between being a nurse and being a great nurse. It just doesn’t hurt to do everything you can for a patient. And it could be the difference between life and death.  Appreciate those hard working nurses. They have tough jobs.”
-- Anita Goza, Those Hardworking Nurses, Waurika News-Democrat, March 27, 2013

The impact and influence of INQRI’s work is explored in a special supplement of the journal Medical Care which published online this month. A blog carnival related to the supplement is now on the INQRI blog.

This is part of a series introducing programs in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Human Capital Portfolio.

A deceptively simple intervention has dramatically reduced the incidence of painful pressure ulcers among nursing home residents in Signature Healthcare facilities in Kentucky.  Every two hours, music is played throughout the nursing homes, prompting staff to go and check on residents and either ensure that they move or help them to move. This effective and easy intervention is the result of a study funded by the RWJF Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI), which has provided funding to 40 interdisciplinary teams of researchers to investigate the link between nursing and the quality of patient care.

INQRI is the first effort of this size and scope to identify both the ways in which nurses improve the quality of patient care and keep patients safe, and the contributions nurses make to saving lives and keeping patients safer and healthier. INQRI research teams have examined such issues as: depression in nurses; the impact of nurse-to-patient staffing ratios on infection rates and on patient mortality; children’s assessments of hospital nursing care; fall prevention; differences in patient outcomes between Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals; and more. Each team includes a nurse researcher and at least one researcher from another field, such as business, economics, medicine, social work, pharmacy, and psychiatry.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) will present the next webinar in its “Translating Research into Practice” series on March 12.

INQRI grantees Marita Titler, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Paul Conlon, PharmD, JD, will present their research on reducing falls in hospitals by implementing a risk specific fall prevention bundle. Titler and Conlon’s 18-month study implemented fall prevention interventions targeted to patient risk factors, and evaluated the use and impact of these practices.

The webinar will take place from 4-5 p.m. EST.

Register for the webinar.
Learn more about the research.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) will host the next webinar in its “Translating Research Into Practice” series on February 14, 2013.

INQRI investigators Linda Flynn, PhD, RN, FAAN, and Joel Cantor, ScD, will discuss their research and the intervention they designed to increase patient safety by enhancing the leadership and team building skills of nurse managers.

The webinar will be held from 3-4 p.m. EST.

Register for the webinar.
Learn more about Flynn and Cantor’s research.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) will host a webinar on January 31, 2013 as part of a series featuring all of the INQRI's grantee teams focused on translating research into practice. The webinar will feature INQRI Investigators Susan Beck, PhD, APRN, FAAN, and Nancy Dunton, PhD, FAAN, discussing their research on dissemination and implementation of evidence-based methods to measure and improve pain outcomes.

The webinar will be held from 2-3 p.m. EST.

Register for the webinar.
Learn more about Beck and Dunton’s research.

Susan B. Hassmiller, RN, PhD, FAAN, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation senior adviser for nursing and director of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, will be a featured speaker when the Institute for Healthcare Improvement hosts a webinar this Thursday, January 10. The webinar will explore how nurse practitioners or advanced practice nurses are being deployed and woven into new, interdisciplinary, team-based delivery designs.

Other panelists will include Patricia Gerrity, PhD, RN, FAAN, an alumna of the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program and a Raise the Voice Edge Runner. Gerrity is the director of Eleventh Street Family Health Services of Drexel University, and the associate dean for community programs at Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions.

The webinar will be held from 2:00–3:00 p.m. EST.

Register for the webinar.
Read more about Gerrity’s work.

Eileene Shake, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, is CEO of the Foundation for Nursing Excellence. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Human Capital Blog asked scholars and experts to consider what the election results will mean for health and health care in the United States.

The 2012 election is over and now, as health care leaders, we are trying to figure out how to move forward with implementing the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA).  Yes, there will be an influx of Americans entering the health care system who did not have access to health care in the past. The impact on nursing will be significant as nurses are being recognized as important to providing care to the large number of new patients entering the system.  Nurses will be key players working on interdisciplinary teams to redesign how health care is delivered. Nurses and advanced practice nurses will need to practice to the full extent of their education in order to care for the increased number of citizens entering the health care system.

There will be less resistance to implementing the ACA and more emphasis will be placed on how to implement it.  Hospitals are already putting processes in place to reduce readmission rates for patients with chronic disease.  New programs are being implemented to manage health care after the patient is discharged to reduce readmission rates. Nurses are following up with patients to ensure they are taking their medications, checking their blood pressure, and following their therapeutic diets. It is important to note that there will still be some resistance to implementing the ACA from states that do not feel they can afford to pay for the health care program. 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) will host a webinar on November 28, where INQRI grantees will discuss their research and future implications of their work. This is the first in a new series of webinars from the program, Translating Research into Practice.

The webinar, which will be held from 12-1 p.m. EST, will feature project investigators Robin Newhouse, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, and Bonnie Spring, PhD, discussing their research on nurse-led interventions to improve screening and treatment for substance abuse.

Register for the webinar.
Learn more about the research by Newhouse and Spring.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) last week announced that the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center will lead its new Coordinating Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice. The Center will have a mission to accelerate teamwork and collaboration among nurses, doctors and other health professionals, with a particular focus on medically underserved areas.

“Health care delivered by well-functioning coordinated teams leads to better patient and family outcomes, more efficient health care services, and higher levels of satisfaction among health care providers,” said HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, PhD, RN, in a news release issued Friday.  “We all share the vision of a U.S. health care system that engages patients, families, and communities in collaborative, team-based care.  This coordinating center will help us move forward to achieve that goal.”

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and three other leading foundations this summer announced their support for the Center and committed up to $8.6 million over five years. RWJF, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and The John A. Hartford Foundation aim to help make the Center the “go to” coordinating and connecting body for efforts to promote interprofessional education and collaborative practice, as well as a place to convene key stakeholders, develop interprofessional education programs, and identify and disseminate best practices and lessons learned.

“Interest in interprofessional education and team-based care has increased in recent years but we need to move faster,” Maryjoan Ladden, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior program officer at RWJF, said in announcing support from the four foundations. “We hope this Center will foster collaborations between educators and practice organizations to advance the field and improve how care is delivered to patients and families.”

Read the news release from the four foundations.
Read the news release from HRSA.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week announced more than $100 million in new grants to expand and strengthen the nation’s health care workforce. The goal of the funding is to educate and strengthen training for health care workers, and provide fellowships and traineeships.

The grants include:

- Nursing ($30.2 million): Partial loan forgiveness for students who serve as full-time nursing faculty for a designated period of time after graduating from a master’s or doctoral program; grants for schools of nursing to provide financial aid and mentoring to students from disadvantaged backgrounds underrepresented in nursing; and funding for nurse anesthetist traineeship programs for licensed registered nurses enrolled in master’s or doctoral nurse anesthesia programs.

- Dental ($3.0 million): Grants to increase oral health care education capacity for programs that train future faculty in general, pediatric, or public health dentistry, or in dental hygiene.

- Public Health ($48.0 million): Funds for 37 Public Health Training Centers to train current and future public health workers in basic health skills and key public health issues; and grants to expand public health training programs and support medical residency-type fellowships at state and local health departments.

- Interdisciplinary and Geriatric Education ($6.6 million): Grants for projects to train and educate workers to provide geriatric care for the elderly; and support for the collaboration and integration of public health curricula in medical and clinical education.

- Centers of Excellence ($18.8 million): A five-year program to support the recruitment and performance of underrepresented minority students entering health careers, and to support research and the development of curricula, training and resources related to minority health issues.

“These grants and the programs they support are vital to achieving a comprehensive and culturally competent health professions workforce capable of meeting future health care challenges,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement announcing the funds.

Learn more about the new federal grants here and here.