Round 5 Grants
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) awarded the fifth round of grants through its Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) program on November 1, 2010. Six teams of nurse scholars and scholars from other disciplines were selected to conduct 18-month research projects which will all focus on translation of programs of proven effectiveness to more settings and more general applications.
Creation of a Nurse Manager Development Program to Increase Patient Safety
Rutgers University
Dr. Linda Flynn
Dr. Joel Cantor
Evidence indicates leadership skills of frontline nurse managers are key to creating magnetic work environments that promote positive outcomes. Yet, weaknesses in nurse managers' skills often result in environments that threaten patient safety. To translate evidence to practice, this team has built upon their prior INQRI study to design an intervention to increase patient safety by enhancing the leadership and team building skills of nurse managers. They have partnered with award-winning journalist and patient safety advocate Suzanne Gordon and other interdisciplinary experts including a certified Crew Resource Management trainer to design and implement a nurse manager development program. This interdisciplinary team is led by Linda Flynn, Ph.D. and Joel Cantor, Sc.D.
Nurse-Led Intervention to Improve Screening and Treatment for Substance Abuse: An RCT of Hospitals
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Dr. Robin Newhouse
Dr. Bonnie Spring
An alarming one in four hospital admissions are related to substance abuse. Because of the prevalence, health risks to society and strong evidence of effectiveness and efficacy, this study will test implementation of a nursing intervention using substance use Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) in an acute hospital setting. SBIRT is a comprehensive, integrated, approach to the delivery of early intervention and treatment services for persons at risk or with substance use disorders. Results of the study will move us toward learning how to implement sustainable evidence-based behavioral practices that have significant effects on quality of care outcomes. This interdisciplinary team is led by Robin Newhouse, Ph.D. and Bonnie Spring, Ph.D., ABPP.
Implementation of a Risk Specific Fall Prevention Bundle to Reduce Falls in Hospitals
University of Michigan
Dr. Marita Titler
Dr. Paul Conlon
Accidental falls are the most common reported patient safety incident in hospitals with rates from 2.9 to 13 per 1000 patient days. Up to 30% of falls result in injury including death. Interventions targeted to patients' fall risk factors are necessary to reduce falls but few hospital fall prevention programs have implemented such an approach. The purpose of this 18 month study is to implement fall prevention interventions targeted to patient risk factors and evaluate use of these practices and their impact on reducing falls and fall related injuries. This interdisciplinary team is led by Marita Titler, Ph.D. and Paul Conlon, Pharm.D., J.D.
Implementation and Dissemination of an Interdisciplinary Nurse-Led Plan to Manage Delirium in Critically Ill Adults
University of Nebraska
Dr. Michele Balas
Dr. William Burke
Fully two-thirds of intensive care unit patients develop delirium, which is associated with longer stays, billions of dollars in costs globally, and 3-fold excess mortality at 6 months. Over one-half of ICU survivors suffer a functionally debilitating dementia-like illness, which appears related to delirium duration. The main goal of this project is to implement, analyze, and disseminate an evidence-based, nurse-led, inter-professional, multi-component program focused on improving the care and outcomes of critically ill adults. The study will focus on applying a program of delirium screening, prevention, and treatment developed at Vanderbilt University. This interdisciplinary team is led by Michele Balas, Ph.D. and William Burke, M.D.
Translation of a Transitional Care Nursing Intervention for People with Serious Mental Illness
University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Nancy Hanrahan
Dr. Phyllis Solomon
The transition from a psychiatric hospitalization back into the community is a vulnerable period for individuals with serious mental illness. Cycling in and out of psychiatric hospitals and emergency services is harmful to this population and depletes scarce public resources. The Transitional Care Model for Persons with Serious Mental Illness (TCM-SMI) proposes to break this cycle by providing 90 days of intensive hospital-to-home services. This project is designed to translate the TCM intervention to meet the complex needs of SMI clients in public managed care. This interdisciplinary team is led by Nancy Hanrahan, R.N., Ph.D. and Phyllis Solomon, Ph.D.
Dissemination and Implementation of Evidence-Based Methods to Measure and Improve Pain Outcomes
University of Utah
Dr. Susan Beck
Dr. Nancy Dunton
This project will disseminate and implement evidence-based approaches to measure and improve pain care and outcomes in a sample of 100 hospitals across the United States. The program is unique in forging a partnership with the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators® (NDNQI). The research team will replicate the NDNQI data collection strategy for pressure ulcers and collect data regarding pain care and outcomes at the patient level across multiple hospitals and units on a given day. The team will finalize and implement a set of pain quality indicators (PQI) within the NDNQI based on their previous INQRI work to develop Pain Care Quality measures. This interdisciplinary team is led by Susan Beck, Ph.D. and Nancy Dunton, Ph.D.