UofL School of Nursing faculty collaborate with UofL Hospital and James Graham Brown Cancer Center nurses and doctors to improve patient care

May 11, 2011 - University of Louisville School of Nursing faculty are teaming up with UofL Hospital (ULH) and James Graham Brown Cancer Center (JGBCC) nurses and other multi-disciplinary health care team members to improve patient care and quality of life through clinical nursing research and evidence based practice projects.

“In today’s world, nurses must be lifelong learners, responsible for basing their clinical practice on emerging knowledge from nursing and health care research,” said M. Cynthia Logsdon, associate chief of nursing for research, ULH/JGBCC, and professor, UofL School of Nursing.

Both a report from the Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing highlight the importance of nursing research and the responsibility of nurses to identify problems and find solutions.

To help meet these recommendations, Logsdon facilitates partnerships between bedside nurses and doctorally prepared scholars from UofL School of Nursing.

For example, one project will evaluate the impact of the Community Alcohol Program (CAP) at ULH.

In 2007, ULH developed the CAP van pilot program to transfer medically stable but intoxicated patients from the Emergency Department (ED) to a community based alcohol treatment facility – The Healing Place - for detoxification. A representative from The Healing Place brings the CAP van to the hospital to pick up patients. The transfers free hospital personnel to help patients truly requiring urgent medical treatment. It also creates an enormous cost savings to the healthcare system.

“This program gives intoxicated patients the opportunity to take part in a life-changing alcohol addiction and abuse intervention program,” said Anna Smith, RN, MSN, administrative director, emergency/trauma services, ULH.

Lee Ridner, PhD, FNP-BC, associate professor, UofL School of Nursing, will help Smith and other nurses on the team, including Lindsey Siewert, RN, MSN and Mark Spivak, RN, BSN, present and publish their findings. This could provide evidence of the program’s success, which may help secure grant funding to expand the project.