Principal Investigator: Kristine Gebbie, Dr.P.H., R.N.
Institution: Columbia University
Grant No: R13 HS09852 (Conference)
Period: 5/1/99-4/30/00
Title: Health Services Research Nursing Conference
Summary: The purpose of the conference is to expand the science base for
health policy making by highlighting and strengthening and expanding the
capacity for health services research within the nursing research community.
Columbia University School of Nursing Center for Health Policy and Health
Services Research will sponsor a national meeting on Health Policy and Health
Services Research: Nursing's Essential Contributions May 12-14. This meeting
will be co-sponsored by the American Academy of Nursing and Alpha Zeta
chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International
Principal Investigator: Linda L. Grabbe, M.N., R.N.
Institution: Georgia State University
Grant No: R03 HS06925 (Dissertation)
Period: 7/1/91-3/31/93
Title: Use of Home Care Services in the Last Year of Life
Summary: This study examined what factors lead to persons requiring formal
home care (visits from health-care personnel) instead of informal home care (by
relatives or friends) during the final year of life. Functional status is of course
a strong indicator of need for formal home care, but this relationship is affected
by a number of variables: Persons living alone with no informal caregivers had
the greatest average likelihood of obtaining formal care; Most individuals
received a mixture of formal and informal care; A higher percentage of males
received only informal care; A higher number of family caregivers meant that
persons with more functional impairment could still remain on informal care;
Women, disoriented persons, African-Americans, and those with higher levels
of functional impairment were significantly more likely to use formal care; The
availability of Medicare, Medicaid, or other sources of payment contributed to
use of formal care. In conclusion, the author recommends that family efforts
should be supported for all potential users of informal care. It should not
supplant informal care.
Availability: NTIS Final Report Accession Number: PB95154258XSP
Principal Investigator: Liza Greenberg, M.P.H., R.N.
Institution: American Accreditation Healthcare Commission
Grant No.: R13 HS10105 (Small Conference)
Period: 7/1/00-6/30/01
Title: Methods to Improve Data on PPO Performance
Summary: This conference, jointly planned with the Consumer Coalition for Quality Health Care, will examine measurement and reporting techniques that allow PPOs to report more informative quality data to consumers and employers. It will also assist in developing a national research agenda on PPO quality. Authors of technical papers discussed at the conference would be encouraged to publish in peer reviewed journals. URAC will develop a summary of findings for distribution to participants, and for submission to a peer reviewed journal.
Principal Investigator: Margaret Grey, Dr.P.H., R.N.
Institution: Yale University
Grant No: R13 HS09321 (Conference)
Period: 9/1/96-8/31/98
Title: Primary Care Research Network for Nursing
Summary: The purpose of this conference was to bring together experts in
primary care nursing practice in the American Academy of Nursing, computer
management of large nursing databases in Sigma Theta Tau (the nursing
honorary society), and primary care research networks in the medical
community. The purpose of the meeting was to provide the necessary support
for nurses in primary care advanced practice to develop a research network
similar to those which exist in medicine, such as ASPEN and PROS. While
some primary care nurse practitioners participate in existing networks, these
networks are governed by the medical community and financed within that
community. Thus, it is difficult, if not impossible, for nurses to be asking the
questions which will be studied using the network infrastructure. The questions
that may be posited by nurse practitioners are likely to reflect more of the
health promotion concerns of the nurse practitioners than are traditionally
reflected in network research.
Principal Investigator: Margaret Grey, Dr.P.H., R.N.
Institution: Yale University
Grant No.: P20 HS11196 (Research Project)
Period: 09/30/00-09/29/01
Title: Developing an APRN Research Network
Summary: The purpose of this exploratory grant is to plan for and establish a new regional Practice-based Research Network (PBRN) for Advanced Practice Nurses in Primary Care (APRNs) in southern New England. The network will be developed using our extensive contacts with APRNs in community based settings in the New England region. Over 400 APRNs are available to us, and they provide care in New England to a variety of minority and underserved populations. Development of this network will enhance our capability to do research relevant to A.P.R.N. primary care practice, develop evidence-based practice models for APRNs, and to enhance the translation of research findings into primary care practice. Specifically, we will develop a plan to establish the network, provide computerized data management and practice evaluation, conduct research of special relevance to minority and/or underserved populations, translate research into practice, and to evolve a plan to provide predictable network funding. The unique aspects of this project include: a focus on community-based advanced practice nurses (APRNs) who are providing care to a variety of underserved and minority populations in southern New England; a long-term commitment to the PBRN model by the project director; an internal planning committee composed of experts in primary care research, advanced practice nursing, and minority health issues; and significant and ongoing commitment of the APRNs to this project. Further, we will specifically focus on the translation of the Guidelines for Clinical Preventive Services (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1994) in A.P.R.N. practice to enhance the translation of research findings into primary care practice.
Principal Investigator: Hurdis Griffith, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: National Academies of Practice
Grant No: R13 HS09366 (Conference)
Period: 3/1/97-9/30/97
Title: Put Prevention into Practice Symposium
Summary: The purpose of this project was to convene a conference to
familiarize the participants with the features and resources in the Put Prevention
into Practice program, and to consider strategies for implementation of the Put
Prevention into Practice program in an interdisciplinary manner for the benefit
of their patients.
Principal Investigator: Haera Han, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: Johns Hopkins University
Grant Number: R03 HS13779 (Small Research Project)
Period: 9/10/03-8/31/05
Title: The Experiences and Challenges of Informal Caregivers
Summary: The specific aims of this project are to: (1) describe and define the cultural meanings of caregiving by Korean American informal caregivers; (2) evaluate how acculturation affects perceptions about caregiving and the structure of informal care among Korean American immigrant caregivers; (3) identify the role and activities performed by Korean American informal caregivers; (4) assess sources of strain and evaluate strategies that Korean American caregivers use to cope with the difficulties of caregiving; and (5) describe services that have been utilized by Korean American caregivers and assess the need for various types of services (e.g., home visit, education, support groups, etc.).
Principal Investigator: Barbara Hanley, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: University of Maryland
Grant No: R01 HS06404 (Research Project)
Period: 6/1/90-5/31/93
Title: HIV Home Health Care Services: Survey and Policy Analysis
Summary: This was a 2 phase descriptive study to assess availability of Home
Health Care (HHC) for persons with HIV/AIDS (PW HIV/A): a mail survey of
all HHC agencies and home hospices in 14 second wave (HIV/A prevalence)
states, and an analysis of state policies re: coverage of HHC services by
Medicaid and private insurers. Additional areas of survey exploration included
capability of the HHC industry to provide such care as the epidemic spreads,
identification of problems faced by the agencies in providing HHC to PW
HIV/A, assessment of agency policies re: use of universal precautions,
infection control, and staff education and assignment. HIV/AIDS offices in the
14 states were asked to submit legislative, regulatory and planning documents
and were interviewed by telephone. Documents and questionnaires were
content analyzed Re: HHC availability through eligibility criteria for
public/private insurance and specific Medicaid service benefits.
Availability: NTIS Final
Report Accession Number: PB94206463
Principal Investigator: Charlene Harrington, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: University of California
Grant No: R01 HS07574 (Research Project)
Period: 4/1/95-3/31/99
Title: A Nursing Home Consumer Information System
Summary: This project had six aims: (1) to identify critical process and
outcome dimensions and indicators of quality in nursing home facilities using
data from OSCAR; (2) to develop and test a model for providing consumer
information about nursing homes available form OSCAR data; (3) to describe
nursing home characteristics and regional differences on quality dimensions;
(5) to test the usefulness of the developed information system for consumers,
professional, and surveyors and make modifications as necessary; and (6) to
present the information on all nursing homes and disseminate it to the public.
Principal Investigator: Charlene Harrington, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: University of California
Grant No: R01 HS06174 (Research Project)
Period: 5/1/89-4/30/91
Title: Home Health and Nursing Home Market Analysis
Summary: This study examined the home health and the nursing home markets
for Medicare and Medicaid services in fifty states, using secondary financial
data on state policies and supply for the 1978-88 period. Descriptive data
showed the growth in licensed nursing home beds in the states has not kept
pace with the aging of the population. State Medicaid nursing home
reimbursement methods shifted toward prospective reimbursement in the early
1980s to control rates, but stabilized by the end of the decade. The number of
state certificate-of-need programs decreased from 50 in 1981 to 39 in 1988.
Analyses showed a growing trend toward under-supply of nursing homes in the
states. The demand for nursing home services was positively affected by the
aging of a state's population age 85, women in the labor force, metropolitan
areas, generous Medicaid eligibility, and negatively affected by higher personal
income levels, stringent state preadmission screening policies, home health
users per capita, and physicians per population. The supply of Medicaid nursing
home services increased with higher Medicaid reimbursement rates. Thus, the
market for home health and nursing homes is dynamic and increasingly
complex.
Availability: NTIS Final Report Accession Number: PB93113215
Principal Investigator: Lorna Harris, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: University of North Carolina
Grant No: R13 HS08619 (Conference)
Period: 3/1/95-2/28/97
Title: The Church's Role in Promoting African American Health
Summary: The project's purpose was to plan and coordinate a statewide
conference to educate leaders of North Carolina's African-American churches
about the role churches can play in helping to meet the objectives of 'Healthy
People 2000' for the African American community. Using a Braithwaite and
Taylor (1992) coalition partnership approach, a community-based health
education project was developed with members of the North Carolina
Interdenominational Usher's Association (NCIUA). The conference results
were established of 10 health advocacy committees in local churches,
compilation of proceedings and resource directory, and creation of a health
steering committee of NCIUA members to plan and develop future health
promotion projects.
Availability: NTIS Final Report Accession Number: PB99137564
Principal Investigator: Janet Heinrich, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: American Nurses' Association
Grant No: R13 HS09242 (Conference)
Period: 9/30/95-9/29/96
Title: Outcome Measurers and Care Delivery Systems
Summary: The purpose of this project was convene an invitational, state-of-the-science conference with 30 participants from the nursing and health services
research community. In summary, despite several decades of research into care
delivery systems as complex organizations and into outcomes of medical
treatment, relatively little work has been published examining the relationship
of outcomes other than mortality to organizational factors presumed to
influence patient responses +o disease/disorder-specific treatments. It may be
that organizational features enhancing clinical care. delivery and the well-being
of those who work in the care delivery system have no effects on the clinical
outcomes of the patients being cared for. However, plausible links exist
between such organizational elements of care delivery as collaboration among
providers, nursing surveillance of client well-behavior, coordination of care and
the likelihood of both extreme outcomes such as mortality and morbidity as
well as more positive outcomes such as perception of being well cared for (an
element of satisfaction), change in health status (positive health behaviors,
achievement of optimal symptom relief), change in health-related quality of life
and achievement of attainable self- care. Clinicians and administrators are
convinced that such links exist but that the measures currently use used are
sufficiently rare or insensitive to the impact of care delivery systems to
demonstrate such effects.
Availability: NTIS Final Report Accession Number: Missing
Principal Investigator: Donna R. Hodnicki, M.N.
Institution: Georgia Southern University
Grant No: R03 HS06954 (Dissertation)
Period: 7/1/91-3/31/93
Title: Homeless Women's Experience and Needs
Summary: This field research used ethnographic techniques to explore women's
experiences of homelessness while living in a shelter. Data were collected by
means of participant observation and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with
23 homeless women in a shelter. A constant comparative analysis of the data
yielded two major domains of the experiences of homelessness:
Disconnected—Loss of Major Support and Rebuilding—The Regrouping of
Assets. First domain themes included disaffiliation, significant loss,
homelessness hurts, facing uncertainty, and being pressured. Second domain
themes were heightened awareness, making adjustments, living with
limitations, a period of growth, and taking a proactive stance. A model of the
experiences of women's homelessness while living in a shelter was developed.
Women experience vulnerability throughout the homeless experience, but it is
most intense when the women are disconnected from major sources of support.
Vulnerability lessens as they begin to rebuild their lives. The women exhibited
proactive behavior during Rebuilding.
Availability: NTIS Final Report Accession Number:
PB94205630
Principal Investigator: Judith E. Hupcey, Ed.D., R.N.
Institution: Pennsylvania State University
Grant No: F32 HS00094 (NRSA Award)
Period: 1/1/95-12/31/96
Title: The Experience of Social Support for the Critically Ill
Summary: This researcher conducted extensive unstructured interviews with 10 ICU family members and 10 ICU nurses at a large rural teaching medical center
to examine nurse-family relationships in the ICU. Strategies used by nurses to
develop the ICU nurse-family relationship included showing commitment to
the patient—spending time with the patient or family, respecting family
rituals, and showing empathy; spending more time with difficult families or
sharing some limited personal information; and being an advocate for the
family, bending or breaking the rules on occasion, sharing information, and
willingly explaining procedures and technology. Families used such strategies
as looking for signs of a nurse's competence and genuine interest in the patient;
making overtures such as being friendly and helpful, giving gifts or positive
feedback, and staying out of the way; and showing trust. Nurses' behaviors that
weakened the relationship included depersonalizing the patient and family,
questioning their intentions, complaining about them, and rigidly maintaining
hospital policy. Families set up barriers to a positive relationship by not sharing
potentially important information, being overly emotional, or ignoring the plan
of care.
Principle Investigator: Carol Ireson, B.S.N., M.S.N., Ph.D.
Institution: University of Kentucky
Grant No.: P20 HS15208 (Research Project)
Period: 9/30/04-9/29/05
Title: Meeting Information Needs of Referrals Electronically
Summary: The overall goal of this planning grant is to improve the quality and safety of the specialist referral process by translating knowledge gained from Commonwealth Fund supported pilot research on information needs of physicians and patients in the specialist referral process into the practice environments at the University of Kentucky Medical Center (UKMC) and rural physician providers throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The long-term goals of our HIT planning are to use our research findings to create an electronic information exchange process that will: (1) improve the coordination of patient care between the referring physicians in rural Kentucky and the specialist providers at UKCMC; (2) decrease the potential for patient error in the referral process; (3) meet the information needs of patients; and (4) improve patient and physician satisfaction with the referral process. We have developed partnerships with rural physician practices and will: (1) validate the research findings from our study; (2) identify essential technological needs for accessing and sharing data and information in a way that allows the patient, patient's primary care provider, referring physician, specialist physician, and other healthcare providers to efficiently and effectively access information needed to coordinate their care; (3) develop an implementation plan that includes the key functional goals, strategies, resources, timelines for implementation of the electronic referral process; and (4) develop a human change management plan that parallels the diffusion of information technological innovation. The planning will expand the work on transmitting referral information electronically in a closed health system at Brigham & Women, to an open system that draws patients from rural Appalachia. The HIT initiative will serve as a model for health care providers in rural communities across Kentucky, and knowledge gained from this planning effort will inform the referral process between health care providers in rural and urban communities across the nation.
Principal Investigator: Julie Johnson, R.N.
Institution: Montana State University
Grant No: R03 HS07688 (Small Research Project)
Period: 6/1/93-5/31/95
Title: Nursing: Access to Rural Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs
Summary: The purpose of this descriptive-longitudinal study was to describe
the factors that influence the use of cardiac rehabilitation programs by rural
adults who have experienced a myocardial infarction and/or undergone
angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery. The Anderson-Newman
framework which consists of three determinants of health services utilization
(predisposing, enabling, and need factors) guided the study. A sample of 286
adults participated. Data were collected at the time of hospitalization, 2 weeks
post discharge, and at the expected completion of a 12 week rehabilitation
program. Three questionnaire packets containing instruments with established
psychometric properties related to the factors of interest were used. Data were
analyzed with descriptive statistics and multiple and logistic regression. Results
indicated that only 28 percent of the sample attended some portion of a rehabilitation
program. Of those, 16.9 percent completed the entire program. Individuals who
attended more sessions were less dependent in completing daily activities,
perceived themselves as less health, were not employed, experienced poorer
mood states, and believed less in the influence of powerful others on health
maintenance.
Availability: NTIS Final Report Accession Number: PB95271821
Principal Investigator: Cheryl Jones, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Grant No.: R13 HS14144 (Conference)
Period: 9/1/03-8/31/04
Title: The Intersection of Nursing and Health Services Research
Summary: Certain critical nursing and health care issues may be most appropriately addressed through the use of health services research (HSR). HSR provides a way to examine the impacts of interventions, innovations, and new technologies in health care delivery, provides evidence to inform decision making in clinical practice, health care systems, and public policy, and improves the overall health and well-being of society. The Conference proposed here will address substantive and methodological issues in nursing and HSR, and bring together researchers in nursing and HSR, and other key stakeholders to: 1) develop a research agenda focusing on critical issues at the intersection of nursing and HSR; 2) identify and recommend training needs—both substantive and methodological—to strengthen HSR capacity in nursing; and 3) disseminate the research agenda and Conference proceedings to encourage the conduct of HSR by nurses and bridge the gap between nursing and other health services researchers through publications in the professional and lay press.
Principal Investigator: Katherine Jones, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
Grant No.: U18 HS11093 (Cooperative Agreement)
Period: 09/27/00-08/31/03
Title: Improving Pain Management in Nursing Homes
Summary: This study proposes to develop and implement a culturally-competent intervention to improve the quality of pain management in nursing homes. Development of the educational materials is based on principles of competency-based education and adult learning. Implementation strategies are based on innovation diffusion theory. Specific aims are to 1) develop and implement a multi-modal, culturally-competent, evidence-based educational and behavioral intervention to improve pain assessment and pain management in nursing homes; 2) improve pain assessment procedures and pain management strategies being used in nursing homes; 3) improve resident, family, and staff knowledge and attitudes towards pain assessment and pain management; 4) evaluate the influence of organizational variables on achieving desired clinical and educational outcomes; and 5) assess the cost-effectiveness of the multi-modal intervention for disseminating pain assessment and pain management knowledge to nursing homes. Specific intervention components include videotapes and manuals for staff training; a pain resource binder; physician and pharmacist seminars; chart review and feedback to clinicians; creation of an internal pain team; site visits and interactive television conferencing.
Principal Investigator: Mary Jones, M.S.N., Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: University of Texas Health Sciences Center
Grant No.: R13 HS13803 (Small Conference Grant)
Period: 9/6/02-9/5/03
Title: Sex and Violence: Care Imperatives for Hispanic Health
Summary: Unavailable
Principle Investigator: Angela Jukkala, M.S., R.N.
Institution: University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Grant No.: R36 HS14516 (Dissertation)
Period: 7/1/04-5/31/05
Title: NRP and Neonatal Outcomes in Rural Hospitals
Summary: The challenges of providing health services in rural settings are quite unique and few professionals are educated to function in the generalist role required in rural areas. This challenge is compounded by disparities in health status of rural Americans, one of which is the continued elevated neonatal mortality rate. Little is known about factors that influence outcomes for neonates requiring resuscitation who are born in rural hospitals. Much of the variability in the rural neonatal mortality remains unexplained and it is possible that differences in care practices may account for some of that variation. The purpose of this project is to explain variability in newborn morbidity and mortality as a function of provider care quality and hospital maternity unity characteristics. Twenty rural hospitals from two Midwestern states will be selected at random without replacement for study participation. At each hospital, nurse managers will provide information about obstetrical unit characteristics (structure). Physicians and nurses (approximately 30 per hospital) who provide care to neonates at birth will provide demographic data, describe past experiences and comfort when performing skills required during resuscitation, and participate in a knowledge survey. Birth logs from each unit will be used to gather data for newborns (approximately 120) and identify the healthcare providers present at delivery. A hierarchical linear model will be used to estimate parameters of a statistical model that links birthing unit preparedness (structure) and provider readiness (process) to very early neonatal health status (outcome).
Principal Investigator: Mary Kerr, M.N.
Institution: Case Western Reserve University
Grant No: R03 HS06611 (Dissertation)
Period: 8/1/90-7/31/91
Title: Conditions that Necessitate Nursing Care and Outcomes in
Cardiovascular Surgical Population
Summary: The purposes of this study were to examine (1) quality of care by
relating the process of care to patient outcomes and (2) the usefulness of the
nursing diagnoses taxonomy, 'Conditions that Necessitate Nursing Care'
(CNNC) in predicting outcomes. Process of care is reflected by nursing
diagnoses (NDx), the aggregation of NDx into CNNC taxonomic categories and
the total incidence of NDx. The CNNC categories called Human Responses
Patterns (HRP) were Communicating, Choosing, Exchanging, Feeling,
Knowing, Moving, Perceiving, Relating and Valuing. The patient outcomes of
care were survival, length of stay (LOS), functional health status (FHS) and
quality of life (QOL). Using a prospective repeated measure design, 116
subjects hospitalized for coronary artery bypass graft surgery were recruited for
study participation; 91 subjects continued in this study 4 weeks after discharge.
Results showed that anxiety and knowledge deficit were salient NDx regardless
of hospitalizations phase, and risk of infection, pain and altered skin integrity
were important after surgery. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the
HRP Relating was the best predictor of hospital LOS during the transition
phase. The HRP Relating was the best predictor of QOL after discharge during
the independence phase. This study illustrated that taxonomic structures of
NDx can target populations at risk or for intervention.
Availability: NTIS Final Report Accession Number: PB94210267XSP
Principal Investigator: Miyong Kim, B.S.N., M.S.N., Ph.D.
Institution: Johns Hopkins University
Grant No.: R01 HS13160 (Research Project)
Period: 9/10/03-8/31/06
Title: High Blood Pressure Care for Korean Americans
Summary: The primary objective of this study is to develop and test an innovative self-help program for Korean Americans (KA) that is culturally sensitive, built on valid behavioral theories and principles, and aimed at improving the control of high blood pressure (HBP) and enhancing health related quality of life. Specifically, we will focus on the self-help aspects of HBP control by empowering patients with greater knowledge about HBP, greater self-efficacy, and enhancing self-care skills including general and HBP related problem-solving skills.
Principal Investigator: Karin Kirchhoff, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: Clinical Science Center
Grant No.: R01 HS13374 (Research Project)
Period: 8/11/03-7/31/07
Title: Patient-Centered Approach to Advance Care Planning
Summary: For a decade, attention has been given to the use of Advance Directives and Advance Care Planning (ACP) as ways to improve end-of-life care. We know from the literature, and from our own research on end-of-life care that these efforts have not been successful. The overriding inadequacy of past efforts is their lack of patient-centeredness. That is to say, they have not been grounded in a clear understanding of patients' preferences, values, and wishes, nor did they include surrogates. Based on theories regarding decisionmaking and patient education we have developed Patient-Centered Advance Care Planning (PC-ACP). This intervention is designed to improve patient and surrogate knowledge of ACP, increase the congruence between patient and surrogate in treatment decisions, decrease the patient's and surrogate's conflict in making such decisions, and increase the consistency between patient preferences and the actual care they receive. The ACP intervention is conducted with the patient in the presence of surrogate. The specific aims are (1) To test the efficacy of PC-ACP on patient and surrogate outcomes both immediately following receipt of the intervention and at six months and (2) To test the efficacy of PC-ACP on patient and surrogate outcomes at the time the patient first encounters a medical complication or during end-of-life care where the surrogate is required to make decisions.
Principal Investigator: Shawn M. Kneipp, R.N., A.R.N.P., Ph.D.
Institution: University of Florida
Grant No.: R03 Hs10338 (Small Grant)
Period: 9/30/99-9/29/00
Title: Health Implications of Welfare to Work for Women
Summary: The study was intended to examine whether the current welfare policy, which encourages women to work but allows them to continue Medicaid coverage for one year after leaving the welfare rolls, affects use of and access to health services. The study had three specific aims: 1) to describe differences between low-income employed women and those receiving welfare benefits with regard to health insurance coverage, income, health status, health care utilization patterns, barriers to care, and satisfaction with health care received; 2) to determine whether families headed by low-income employed women with Medicaid coverage experienced greater barriers to a usual source of health care than families headed by unemployed women on Medicaid; and 3) to determine whether barriers to health care related to employment or child care in low-income employed women were associated with various measures of health service use and satisfaction with care. Using the 1996 MEPS data, low-income (less than 150 percent poverty level) single mothers were identified and stratified by employment status. The sample size was approximately 1,126. Various statistical techniques were used to analyze differences between these two groups.
Principal Investigator: Christine Kovner, Ph.D., R.N.
Institute: New York University
Grant No.: P20 HS11523 (Research Grant)
Period: 9/30/01-9/29/04
Title: Patient Safety in Home Care
Summary: The New York University Division of Nursing (NYU-DON) and the Center for Home Care Policy and Research (CHCPR) at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) propose to establish a Developmental Center for Evaluation and Research in Patient Safety (DCERPS). The DCERPS will focus on health care provided in the home setting, particularly on care provided by nurses, and its relationship to patient safety in home care. Home care is a significant sector of the health care system that has received little attention, even though patient adverse events resulting from medical errors have been a focus of heightened professional, public, and Congressional concern, especially since publication of the Institute of Medicine's report To Err is Human. In recent years, physician-related errors and patient injuries occurring in hospitals and nursing homes have been the most widely studied, while less is known about errors in non-institutional settings.
The goal of the NYU-VNSNY DCERPS is to establish an ongoing center that can provide the intellectual resources and disciplinary skills, the measurement tools and the organizational techniques for understanding medical errors in home health care and designing and evaluating mechanisms for learning from such errors and reducing them. Over the next 3 years (Phases 1 and 2 of the project) our goals and to 1) develop a multi-disciplinary team to conduct research on patient safety, 2) strengthen the ties between NYU-DON and VNSNY, 3)develop educational programs on the importance of patient safety and evidence-based approaches to improving it, and 4) conduct research pilot studies. The DCERPS will mobilize resources from both institutions, as well as selected outside consultants, and will include a multi-disciplinary team of registered nurses (RNs), physicians, social scientists, statisticians, and epidemiologists, and management experts. The prime focus will be on care provided to older adults and minority groups in inner-city areas. Unlike many home health agencies, VNSNY has a large non-white population. Approximately two-thirds of the patients served by VNSNY are 65 or older, while about 3 out of 10 are black and 2 out of 10 are Hispanic.
Principal Investigator: Christine Kovner, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: New York University
Grant No: R13 HS09814 (Conference)
Period: 4/1/98-3/30/99
Title: Staffing, Case Mix and Quality in Nursing Homes
Summary: The objective of this conference is to define staffing issues in
nursing homes and to explicate the relationship of those staffing issues to the
quality of care in the delivery of services to the nursing home population. In
conjunction with defining these issues a second objective is to develop a
strategy for studying these staffing issues, particularly identifying
methodological problems and possible solutions. Approximately 25
participants, including experts in the field, will be invited and a manuscript
synthesizing the specific findings of the conference will be prepared by the
organizers and the major consultant to participate in the conference.
Availability: Pending
Final Report
Principal Investigator: Christine Kovner, Ph.D., R.N.
Institution: New York University
Grant No: F32 HS00010 (NRSA Award)
Period: 2/1/87-1/31/90
Title: Using Computers to Identify Nursing Resource
Summary: The purpose of this project was to obtain additional skills and
improve existing ones in the research field. Dr. Kovner carried out a program
of course work and conducted a study on the relationship between co-existing
disorders and the utilization of nursing resources among age 65 and over
population. This research developed methodologies to use existing
computerized data bases.