Research and special project grants
2009 Prince Grant Awards
Prince Scholars
Andrea Kline, MS, RN, CPNP-AC/PC, FCCM, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
“Making a Difference in Children’s Health Care: NAPNAP Fly-In to Capital Hill”
The purpose of this proposal is to attend a national conference on the
legislative process and to develop skills to influence policy change in
order to shape the future of pediatric health care. The National
Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) will be hosting a
program in conjunction with their Washington Representatives from
Arnold and Porter, LLC to provide Pediatric Nurse Practitioners with an
overview of the legislative process and review of current legislation
affecting pediatric health care. Tools and key talking points to
efficiently and effectively communicate with legislators and their
staff regarding pertinent issues facing child health care in America
will be discussed. Congressional appointments will be made for each
attendee to address current legislative issues with state and national
legislators. Specific topics that will be addressed with legislators
include increasing funding for State Children’s Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP), strategies to combat the pediatric obesity epidemic,
and engaging nurse practitioners in the medical home act. The
foundation for ongoing communication with legislators and their staff
regarding pertinent health care issues will be established during this
experience.
Ann Marie Simonelli, MSN, NNP, RNC, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
“Fragile Infant Feeding Institute”
The purpose of this proposal is to attend the Fragile Infant Feeding
Institute sponsored by USF Health to learn new approaches to feeding
infants with neuron-developmental alternations. Ann Marie is currently
a member of the NICU Feeding Taskforce, which is looking into reviewing
and enhancing current feeding assessment tools and practices.
Information gained by attending this Institute will be shared and
incorporated into the work of this task force.
Casey O’Brien, BSN, RN, CPN, Clinical & Organizational Development
“Simulation: An Effective Strategy to Highlight Patient Safety
and Critical Thinking for the New Graduate Nurse”
This proposal will support the presentation of a poster that shares
the survey results that assesses the effectiveness of simulation in
supporting the development of critical thinking skills in new graduate
nurses at the 19th
Annual Society of Pediatric Nurses Convention in Atlanta GA in April
2009. Attendance at the conference will also provide opportunities to
network with other nurse leaders and learn from pediatric experts.
Sandra VanLeeuwen, BSN, RN, CPOHN, Hematology/Oncology
“Midwest Nursing Research Society Conference Paper Presentation”
This proposal supported the paper presentation, “Neuro-protective
Effects of Dietary Curcumin in Cerebral Ischemia,” at the MNRS Annual
Conference in Minneapolis, MN in March 2009. It is hoped that findings
from this research will contribute to therapeutic interventions that
address the devastating effects of post cerebral ischemia experienced
by children who have survived head trauma, systemic sepsis, and
chemotherapeutic/radiation toxicities secondary to brain tumors.
Sabbaticals
Petrina Jensen, RN, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
“NICU Breastfeeding Counselor Certification Program”
The purpose of this proposal is to provide an opportunity for 15-20
NICU nurses to attend a 2 day Breastfeeding Counselor Certification
program and then serve as members of the Breastfeeding Education and
Support Task Force at CMH. As members of the taskforce they will
support new moms as they learn to breastfeed, develop breastfeeding
protocols and serve as mentors for other health care providers/staff.
Mary Ward, MSN, RN, 7 West
Renee Plendl, BSN, RN, CPN, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
“Education and Programming for the Providers of 1:1 Patient Supervision”
This sabbatical will provide support for the development of education
and standardization of role responsibilities for staff members serving
in 1:1 patient care supervision. A four-hour inservice will be
developed and provided to nursing assistance to help them better
understand and full fill this role when assigned.
2010 Prince Grant Awards
Prince Scholars
Annie Heffron, BSN, RN, Infection Prevention & Control
"Next Step: Advancing from Novice to Expert Nurse Epidemiologist"
The purpose of this proposal is to attend the Association of
Professionals in Infection Control (APIC) course, “EPI 201: Beyond the
Fundamentals, Advancing Practice Using Epidemiologic Principles.” This
course will an overview of infection control principles and practices
and will provide a foundation of epidemiologic knowledge that will help
guide the career of a new nurse to the field.
Elizabeth Miller, BSN, RN, CPN, 6 West
Annual Nursing & Health Information Research Conference: "Shaping Healthcare Delivery & Policy"
The purpose of this proposal is to attend the Health Information
Technology & Nursing Research conference sponsored by the Mayo
Clinic. The conference has a strong nursing focus and addresses the
challenges and successes of using health information to promote usable,
efficient, and seamless information flow within hospital settings. By
attending the conference she plans to share best practice ideas with
unit leadership and informatics committee.
Ann Beland, BSN, RN, CPN
Breanne Fisher, MSN, PNP, RN
Amanda Cristoe-Eichstaedt, BSN, RN, CPN, 3 West/Epilepsy
"An Overview of Implementing the Ketogenic Diet in the Pediatric Population"
This grant will provide support for three nurses to attend and present
a poster at the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses Annual
Educational Meeting. Their poster displays the effects and benefits of
using a Ketogenic diet as part of plan of care in treating seizure
patients.
Emily Spore-Lowder, BSN, RN, PICU
"The Quality of Life of Primary Caregivers of Children with Chronic Illnesses"
This grant will provide support to attend and present a poster on
recently completed research doctoral dissertation study at the Society
of Pediatric Nursing, 20th
Annual Convention in Orlando, FL. The poster will display a review of
the literature and highlight important aspects of how caring for
children with chronic illnesses impacts caregiver QOL.
Vilma Santos, BSN, RN, MBA, Emergency Department
"Learn & Re-energize! Boosting CMH ED Nurse Leadership’s Effectiveness & Management Skills"
The purpose of this grant was to provide support for seven members of
the ED leadership team who attended the ENA Leadership Conference
entitled, “Leading into the Future,” that was held in Chicago, February
19-21, 2010. By attending as a team, they hoped to enhance their
leadership and management skills.
Heather VanLaten, BSN, RN, CPON, 4 West
Washington Health Policy Institute
The purpose of this proposal is to attend the 18th
Annual Washington Health Policy Institute in Arlington Virginia in
June. The Institute will provide an understanding of how public policy
affects the nation’s health care delivery system and resources.
Attendees will have interactive lectures with top policymakers and will
explore the forces influencing current policy.
Prince Sabbatical
Elizabeth Preze, MSN, CPNP, RN, Cardiac Care Unit
Genevieve Frey, BSN, RN, Cardiac Care Unit Nursing Education
The grant will support the development of 25 short educational videos
that will be used as part of a blended learning approach to orient
nurses to the care of patients within the new CICU. The videos will
include topics on congenital heart defects, nutrition, development
care, teaching needs, and the complexity of care delivery for these
patients.
2009 Research: Internal Shaw Grants
2009 Shaw Research Grants in Nursing and Allied Health Professions
Marie Shinkle, PharmD, BCPS
Justine McBride, LCSW, Stem Cell Transplantation
"A Multidisciplinary Approach to Adherence Improvement Using
Education and Medication Boxes for Adolescents and Young Adults who
have undergone Allogeneic Hematopoeitic Stem Cell Transplantation"
Achieving adherence to immunosuppressive medications in the adolescent
population of post allogeneic stem cell transplant patients can be
challenging. Non-adherence can put patients at increase risk of
uncontrolled graft versus host disease. The purpose of this study is to
determine if the use of a medicine box to organize and store the
adolescents medications for a month combined with a 15 minute
discussion with a pharmacist and social worker of barriers to
adherence, the importance of medication adherence, and how to use the
box will improve adherence. Medication boxes will be filled by the
pharmacist with the needed medications through the next scheduled
appointment. Patients will be asked to bring their box for refilling to
each appointment. Impact will be assessed at one month and three months
by having a adolescent complete a survey assessing attitudes toward
their medication and how they believe the medications impact their
heath. Changes in adherence percentages and survey results will be
compared to patient’s baseline results.
Diana Halfer, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Clinical & Organizational Development
"Effects of Healthy Unit Work Environments on Graduate Nurse Role
Transition and Retention"
This is a multi-site study to examine the professional socialization
and integration of new licensed graduate nurses into professional
practice. Data will be collected for nurses on all inpatient units
using the Essentials of Magnetism Tool, the Anticipated Professional
Practice Work Environment Tool and the Perceived Professional Practice
Work Environment Tools. The study seeks to determine if there are
differences in expectation, experiences and retention rates of new
licensed graduate nurses when employed on units that have a documented
health and professionally satisfying work environment from those
working on other units.
Connie Hill, MSN, RN, 9 West
"Listening to Adolescents with HIV/AIDS as they Transition to Adulthood"
The purpose of this study is to explore how adolescents with HIV/AIDS
envision independent living in the community as an adult. This
exploratory inquiry will utilize ethnographic approaches include focus
groups and photovoice to provide adolescents with HIV/AIDS an
opportunity to record and reflect on their personal community strengths
and concerns. Findings from the study may help nurses and health
providers better understand the concerns of these individuals as they
become adults.
Joyce Chesniak, MSN, RN
Jennifer Ruiz, BSN, RN, Transitional Care Unit
"Application of the Children Assisted with Medical Technology Tool
for Mother’s of Children with Congenital Central Hypoventilation
Syndrome: An Application of Functional Caregiving"
This is a replication study to further test the validity and
reliability of the Children Assisted with Medical Technology Tool
(CAMT) with mothers of children who have congenital central
hypoventilation syndrome. As we learned today from Joyce’s presentation
of the original study, the tool was developed to measure mother’s
confidence in caring for their children who require the use of medical
technologies and was validated on a sample of mothers whose child
needed medical support of tracheostomy, ventilator and or BIPAP/CPAP.
Outcomes from this study population will be compared to the original
sample to discover similarities and differences. With further
validation it is hoped that this screening tool will help nurses better
assess caregiver’s confidence and then implement personalized plans of
care to improve their skills and confidence in managing the technology
needs of their child.
Frank Zelko, PhD, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
"Feasibility Study to Real Time Cognitive Assessment during
Electroencephalographic (EEG) Monitoring as a Clinical Tool for
Children with
Epilepsy"
This study will explore the feasibility of computerized cognitive
assessment concurrent with EEG monitoring as a technique for evaluation
the clinical impact of ictal and interictal epileptiform events upon
cognition in childhood epilepsy. The ability to gauge the adverse
impact of electrophysiological disruption in children with epilepsy
could provide a better understanding of how epilepsy handicaps
children’s functioning at school and in other performance contexts. The
study will have 30 children with known epilepsy complete a computerized
measure of attention and cognitive inhibition while undergoing EEG
monitoring and assess the impact of clinical and subclinical
epileptiform discharges upon cognitive processes such as reaction time,
attention, and executive skills using this concurrent methodology.
2009 Shaw Nursing Faculty Collaborative Grants
Huong Mai, BSN, RN, 9 West
Mary Dominiak, PhD, Assistant Professor, Loyola University
"Responding to Verbal Abuse: Exploring Successful Nurse Interventions"
The purpose of this study is to explore the effective tactics used by
nurses when encountering verbal abuse and to identify strategies that
would help minimize verbal abuse and reduce its impact on staff and
patient care. The data will be gathered through focus groups. A
semi-structured interview method will be used to elicit nurse
perceptions of the incidents and descriptions of verbal abuse and
methods used to counter these incidents. From the insights gained,
supportive interventions and training can be developed with the
ultimate goal being to decrease the negative effects on staff and
improve the quality of caregiver interaction.
Andrea Bushaw, MSN, CPNP
Sue Horner, MSN, RNC
Ann Marie Simonelli, MSN, RNC, NNP, NICU
Erin Ross, PhD, CCC-SLP, post-doctoral fellow, NutritionUniversity of Colorado
"The Impact of Implementing an Infant Driven Feeding Program on Oral
Feeding and Growth Outcomes in Medically Fragile Infants in the NICU"
Transitioning infants from nasogastric to full oral feeds is an ongoing
challenge for multidisciplinary teams in the NICU. While there is a
growing body of research on managing this transition for “healthy”
preterm infants, there is a lack of research on how to best transition
more medically complex term and preterm infants to successful oral
feeding. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of
implementing a developmentally supportive, infant-driven feeding
program called “Supporting Oral Feeding in Fragile Infants” (SOFFI).
This program provided the NICU staff with a theoretical framework to
discern infant feeding readiness and subsequently oral feeding
progression. The study will be a pre-post trial design. Historical data
regarding oral feeding, length of stay, and growth outcomes of 100 NICU
infants will be assessed prior to implementation of the SOFFI program
and compared to oral feeding, length of stay and growth outcomes of
another 100 NICU infants after implementation of the program. Findings
from this study may further infant oral feeding research for the
medically complex NICU infant and lead to recommendations for clinical
practice changes.
Department-funded research
Terri Halverson, BSN, RN ( Oncology), Reggie Duerst, MD
"Identification of Factors that Allow Risk Adjustment in Pediatric Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation"
Dawn Diaz Saldano, MSN, RN, CPNP
Jennifer Hagerty, DO
Max Maizels, MD
"Ultrasound Biofeedback of the bladder: A tool for initial evaluation of bladder emptying"
Debbie Jefferson, MSN, MHA, RN, FNP-BC
"Adolescent Cardiology Transitioning Questionaire"
Janis Rusin, MSN, RN, CPNP-AC, Transport Team
"Development of a Scoring Tool to Enhance Decision Making Regarding Mode
of Transportation for Pediatric Interfacility Transport: A Research
Proposal"
Lauren Sorce, MSN, RN, CPNP-AC/PC, FCCM
Andrea Kline, MS, RN, CPNP-AC/PC, FCCM
"Alarm Fatigue in Critical Care Nurses"
Externally-supported nursing research
Rebekah Maloney, BSN, RN (4W)
Catherine Vincent, PhD, RN
"Pediatric Nurse Beliefs and Pain Management Practices: An Intervention Pilot" ($10,000 UIC Faculty Grant)
Michaela Conway Barrett, BSN, RN (COD)
"ADVANCE Program Evaluation Survey" (QI project for graduate study
Diana Halfer, MSN, RN, NEA-BC (COD)
(Additional site PIs include - Marlene Kramer, Claudia Schmalenberg, Barbara Brewer, Joyce Verran, and Jan Keller-Unger)
"Effects of Healthy Unit Work Environments on Graduate Nurse Role Transition and Retention"
Andrea Kline, MS, RN, CPNP-AC/PC, FCCM
Denise Goodman, MD
"Therapeutic Hypothermia After Pediatric Cardiac Arrest. A Multi-Center Prospective Randomized Trial"
Julie Chesterton, MSN, RN CPNP
Jackson Norman MD
Estella Alonzo, MD
"Efficacy of Chest Tubes Placed in Interventional Radiology as Treatment for Parapneumonic Pleural Effusions in Children"
Diane Calamaras, MSN, RN, CPNP
Alexis Thompson, MD
"Assessment of Pain Survey"
Kathleen Arsini, BSN, RN
Cynthia Lefton, PhD, RN
"Impact of the DAISY Awards n Nurses’ Perception of the Work Environment"