Interprofessional research team to study nursing care for heart patients

SPH, School of Nursing are co-recipients of $300,000 grant

(Jan. 5, 2009 ) — With the support of a $300,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, School Public Health, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at Minneapolis and Palo Alto, Calif., are teaming up to study better ways to care for heart failure patients.

The grant is part of the Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI), which aims to generate, disseminate and translate research to understand how nurses contribute to and can improve the quality of patient care. Nurses account for more than half of all health care providers in the United States, but little research exists to demonstrate the link between what nurses do and the effect those interventions have on patient care and safety.

Principal Researchers

Joanne Disch, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., a clinical professor in the University of Minnesota School of Nursing and director of the Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership, and Douglas Wholey, Ph.D., (pictured) a professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, are the principal investigators for the study.

Co-investigators are Paul Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., and Anju Sahay, Ph.D., from VA’s Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI), which works to improve veterans’ care by translating research findings into clinical practice. Chronic heart failure (CHF) is one of nine conditions addressed by QUERI. Heidenreich and Sahay have formed the VA Heart Failure Network, consisting of 430 providers from 167 VA facilities, to further improve the quality of care for veterans with heart failure.

Impact of Chronic Heart Failure

Five million people in the U.S. suffer from chronic heart failure (CHF), and 500,000 patients develop heart failure every year. The direct and indirect cost to society is more than $40 billion annually, says Wholey.

“There is a significant need for cost-effective therapy and coordinated management of heart failure patients to decrease the rate of re-hospitalization, illness, and death,” he says. ”We believe this research will improve care for veterans by helping us better understand the factors that affect the ability of team members to work together and coordinate their care.”

Research Will Focus on Team Care

The project seeks to foster advances in heart failure care for veterans by working with VA’s CHF-QUERI, and the newly formed VA Heart Failure Network.

Disch adds: “Our particular focus is on the impact of collaborative leadership of the team on individual member performance and satisfaction. We will examine the role of each member, and how they jointly make decisions and handle problems. While each person is important, a well-functioning team enhances the care of the patient, improves professional satisfaction, and helps the organization achieve its goals.”

In bringing together the combined interprofessional resources and expertise of the University of Minnesota and the VA, investigators will better understand how collaborative leadership creates a strong team in environments where individuals effectively work together toward shared goals.

Nurses Play a Key Role

Nurses play a key role in care delivery, care coordination, and communication. While the emphasis of the study is on interprofessional collaboration, the role of nurses will be a key focus.

“It takes a nurse to make a difference in the quality of care we get in hospitals,” said INQRI Program Director Mary Naylor, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N. Marian S. Ware, professor of gerontology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, added, “Without evidence linking nurses to better patient care, their contributions often go unrecognized. This study should help to supply that evidence.”

“By funding interdisciplinary research, we expect this program to improve the safety, reliability, quality, and efficiency of healthcare practiced in the United States,” said Lori Melichar, Ph.D., senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The heart failure study is a collaborative project of individuals from the University of Minnesota’s Schools of Nursing, Public Health, the VA’s Chronic Heart Failure Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (CHF-QUERI), and the VA medical centers in Minneapolis and Palo Alto, California.