AHCPR Awards Grants To Improve the Quality of Care in the Area of Nursing Research

Press Release Date: November 24, 1999

The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) today announced funding for three new research projects in the area of nursing research, which are aimed at addressing critical issues affecting the quality of health care. The funding for these new projects is anticipated to total $2.94 million over a 3-year period.

"These studies reflect AHCPR's commitment to support research that provides a foundation for evidence-based decision making by policymakers and clinicians across all of the health care disciplines," said AHCPR's Administrator, John M. Eisenberg, M.D. "Also, these studies will provide new insight into nurses' contributions to improving quality of care."

The American Nurses Association President Beverly Malone, Ph.D, RN, FAAN, stated that "We believe that evidence-based practice is intrinsically linked to quality patient outcomes and look forward to the results of these nursing endeavors as the profession continues its efforts to improve patient safety and care."

The newly funded projects are:

• Evidence-based Practice: From Book to Bedside. Principal investigator: Marita Titler, Ph.D., R.N. School of Nursing, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA. $1,463,673; 09/30/99-09/29/02. (Grant No.: HS10482).

  This project will promote the translation of research on acute pain management into clinical practice using a multidimensional approach targeted to hospitalized elderly. The study will consist of a 3-year randomized evaluation in 12 hospitals across Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. Researchers will determine whether: a multidimensional organizational intervention alters nurse and physician behaviors; institutional barriers to change are reduced; and, the intervention is cost-effective.

• Evidence-based "Reminders" in Home Health Care. Principal investigator: Penny H. Feldman, Ph.D. Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York, NY. $1,001,798; 09/30/99-03/30/02. (Grant No.: HS10542).

  This project aims to improve provider performance and promote adherence to evidence-based practice strategies among home health care nurses. The study addresses a critical need to provide information and resources that can affect behavioral-based home health care delivery. Researchers will provide information on provider's use of evidence-based guidelines in the treatment of two highly prevalent, chronic diseases: congestive heart failure and cancer and the impact use of guidelines has on quality and cost of care.

• Quality of Hypertension Care for Asian Refugees. Principal investigator: Candice C. Wong, M.D., Ph.D. School of Nursing-University of California, San Francisco, CA. $472,985; 09/30/99-09/29/01. (Grant No.: HS10276).

  This study will develop a measure of the quality of care for hypertension in a population of Hmong refugees in Fresno, California. These refugees are of Southeast Asian origin and are especially vulnerable to hypertension. Also, they have poorer health than the general population, which has been attributed to cultural and language barriers, low literacy rates, high levels of stress, and poverty.

  Specific aims of this project are to:

  1. Define quality-of-care for hypertension from the Hmong perspective.
  2. Develop a hypertension quality of care instrument for use with Hmong patients.
  3. Pilot-test the hypertension quality of care instrument.

AHCPR is the lead agency charged with supporting research designed to improve the quality of health care, reduce its cost, and broaden access to essential services. AHCPR sponsors and conducts research that provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes; quality; and cost, use, and access. The information helps health care decisionmakers—patients and clinicians, health system leaders, and policymakers—make more informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services.

For additional information, contact the AHCPR Press Office, (301) 427-1364: Salina Prasad, (301) 427-1864 (SPrasad@ahrq.gov).

Internet Citation:

AHCPR Awards Grants To Improve the Quality of Care in the Area of Nursing Research. Press Release, November 24, 1999. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr1999/nurseqoc.htm