INQRI Team Receives Funding from the Greenwall Foundation

Congratulations to our INQRI team at the University of Pittsburgh (Mary Beth Happ, Amber Barnato and team) who were recently awarded a grant from the Greenwall Foundation Kornfeld Program on Bioethics and Patient Care for a companion study to their INQRI project.

"SPEACS 2: Improving Patient Communication and Quality Outcomes in the ICU" is their INQRI-funded study, which examines the value of a nurse-generated and nurse-led innovation by testing the impact of a computer-based nurse communication training and materials program (SPEACS-2) on patient care outcomes: nursing care quality (coma-free days, physical restraint use, pain symptom management, pressure ulcers, patient/family satisfaction with communication), clinical outcomes(ventilator-free days, ICU/hospital days discharge disposition) and cost.

Their new grant from Greenwall will allow them to complete a new study: "Patient Participation in Treatment Decisions Before and After a Program to Facilitate Patient Communication in the ICU."  The overall goal of this project is to explore the participation of nonspeaking critically ill patients in decisions about life-sustaining treatment (LST) and the clinical ethical implications of such participation. This companion study provides a unique opportunity to illuminate potential changes and ethical considerations regarding patient self-determination through participation in LST decisions in the ICU.

Congratulations!