More Coverage of the INQRI Annual Meeting

Our recent annual meeting was highlighted in yesterday's edition of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's e-newsletter Sharing Nursing's Knowledge:

“The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and INQRI have pointed out the deficiencies in the old health care paradigm, including the fact that we don’t use nurses enough,” said Linda Aiken, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., a professor of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the INQRI National Advisory Committee. “We are presenting a new vision: that nurses can do more to improve health and health care. We have studies that demonstrate what that larger role looks like. I would say that we’re already normalizing nurses’ larger role, too,” Aiken said. “Today, you can’t imagine nurses not having an expanded role in health care.”

Click here to read the article.

Press Release: The Leapfrog Group to Report on Hospitals Demonstrating Nursing Excellence

In recognition of a growing body of studies highlighting the key role nurses' play in patient safety, The Leapfrog Group announced they will publicly report on hospitals that have demonstrated nursing excellence on Leapfrog's annual hospital survey. Making the announcement at AARP's Champion Nursing Council and Coalition Meeting in Washington, D.C., Leapfrog's CEO Leah Binder stated, "With this addition to our annual survey, Leapfrog is recognizing the vital role nurses play in patient safety and their strong commitment to transparency. As I visit hospitals across the country, I am constantly finding that the highest performing hospitals, many of Leapfrog's Top Hospitals, have earned the prestigious recognition of Magnet® and nurses are the most vocal supporters of making patient safety and quality information transparent. Our employer members value this designation, and its implications for safety, and believe hospitals deserve recognition when they achieve it."

Click here to read the rest of the press release.

Research Can Be Lonely...

"Research is a lonely and isolated process. Few colleagues understand the depth and breadth of your work. Only when you become immersed in a program like the one offered by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) do you realize the benefit of gathering researchers to talk through research challenges on a
specific topic related to quality and nursing."

- INQRI Researcher Nancy Hanrahan

Dr. Hanrahan recently contributed to RWJF's Human Capital blog to share what she and her team learned at INQRI's annual meeting earlier in the month. Click here to read her insights.

A Nurse in the Family

Vikki Dargenio, RN, of Lower Makefield, PA, recently started her business "A Nurse in the Family," which serves as a go-between for seniors and doctors. Providing transportation services, medical guidance and other services, her role as a "nurse navigator" is a growing sub-specialty.

Dargenio was inspired to launch this business when her own mother and mother-in-law were in need of patient advocates.

Click here to learn more.

IHI's 23rd Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care

Once a year, nearly 6,000 health care professionals from around the world take on the hard questions of quality improvement and change the picture of health care. They present, debate, challenge, learn, share, question, and network.

Join the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) for the 23rd Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care, taking place from December 4-7, 2011, in Orlando, FL.

IHI is now accepting storyboard proposals for presentation at the Forum. Click here to view the storyboard handbook. Please click here to access the storyboard application. The deadline to submit a storyboard proposal is Friday, September 30, 2011.

Former INQRI Grantee Suggests Policy Makers Look to the West

Former INQRI grantee Doug Sloane (University of Pennsylvania) and his colleagues have recently published a new article in Health Affairs which suggests that increasing staffing for registered nurses in hospitals and limiting the number of patients assigned to each nurse will have significant impact on the quality of patient care.

Sloane et al. suggest that California's policy on staffing ratios is one that policy makers should reference when making changes to policy:

"California's state-mandated nurse staffing ratios have been shown to be successful in terms of increasing registered nurse staffing. From a policy perspective, this should be useful information for policy makers considering appropriate nurse staffing policy."

Click here to learn more.

Health Wonk Review: Heatwave Edition

On this very hot day, stay inside and catch up on your favorite blogs. Check out the Health Wonk Review: Heatwave Edition over at Workers' Comp Insider.

It's All About Impact

At last week's annual meeting, we spent a lot of time talking about impact. We discussed strategies for ensuring that research results could be used to foster change. We talked about messaging ideas to best communicate about research. We heard from end users or stakeholders about what they need to hear from researchers. We learned techniques for evaluating research. Everything boils down to this: how do we make sure we have an impact?

So, it was very timely to read Robin Mockenhaupt's guest blog at Ventureneer.com. Last month Mockenhaupt, Chief of Staff at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, attended the Social Impact Exchange conference. Here she shares her perspective on the value of strategic collaborations in scaling for social impact.

How are you sure your work has impact?

Voices of Quality: Aligning Forces

The July edition of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's quarterly e-newsletter, "The Quality Report" features a video depicting recent work from the Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) program.

An important step toward improving the quality of health care in any community is to understand how good the care is. That’s why performance measurement and public reporting is key to AF4Q. Publicly reporting information on the quality of care that doctors and hospitals provide serves two important purposes. First, it allows patients to make more informed choices about their own care and become better partners with their doctors. Second, it allows doctors and other health care professionals to see where they can improve and target areas for quality-improvement efforts. In the 16 AF4Q communities across the country, measurement and reporting efforts are helping lift the quality of care provided doctor by doctor, clinic by clinic.

Click here to view a video about these efforts.

If you would like to receive future editions of "The Quality Report" monthly e-newsletter, sign up here.

New Study Featuring Simulation Education Scenarios for Nurses

Florida International University is one of only 10 schools in the country chosen by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCBSN) to participate in a landmark, national, multisite study this fall that will determine the optimal use of simulation education scenarios by pre-licensure nursing education programs.

Click here to learn more.

What do you think about these types of educational initiatives? Share your thoughts below.

Thank You!

As we reflect back on the 6th annual meeting, all of us at the INQRI national program office are filled with gratitude.

• Thank you to the members of our National Advisory Committee for their continuous support and insight.
  


• Thank you to our invited stakeholder guests for the advice and encouragement they have offered to our grantees.
  


• Thank you to Bruce Vladeck for his stirring presentation on "The Vision Thing."
  


• Thank you to Gareth Parry for his incredibly helpful presentation on evaluation strategies.
  


• Thank you to Susan Dentzer for helping our teams think outside the box to develop strong messages about their work.
  


• Thank you to the members of Cohorts 4 and 5 - we are incredibly proud of all you have accomplished and all you will continue to accomplish.
  


• Thank you to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, not only for "use of the hall," but for the leadership and encouragement they have always offered us.
  


• Thank you to Dave Krol, Andy Hyman and Anne Weiss for their fabulous pre-taped messages for our teams.
  


• Thank you to Sue Hassmiller and Lori Melichar for educating our group about the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action.
  


• And whoever you are out there reading this, we thank YOU. This meeting offered another opportunity for us to grow our social media presence and we thank you for joining us on this journey. We had more than 400 hits on this blog in just two days and we thank you.

To view meeting sessions, simply scroll back through the blog entries from the week. To catch up on the discussion, check out hashtag #inqri2011 on Twitter... most importantly, SAVE THE DATE: our national meeting is scheduled for April 26-27, 2012 at the Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C. and you are invited.

A Message From Anne Weiss

We encourage you to submit your questions or comments via the blog or INQRI's twitter account (@INQRIprogram #inqri2011).

A Message From Andy Hyman

We encourage you to submit your questions or comments via the blog or INQRI's twitter account (@INQRIprogram #inqri2011).

Schedule of Today's Events

9:00am-10:30am

Discussion on Translational Research

Cohort 5 Projects Introduced by NAC Member Shelley White-Means, Ph.D.

10:45am-12:45pm

Messaging Your Research

Moderated by Susan Dentzer, Editor-in-Chief, Health Affairs

12:45pm-2:00pm

Lunch Discussion on the Future of Nursing Campaign for Action

Susan Hassmiller, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., Senior Adviser for Nursing, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Lori Melichar, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

2:00pm-2:30pm

Meeting Wrap up and Closing Remarks

A Diabetes Prevention Program in the Community

We encourage you to submit your questions or comments via the blog or INQRI's twitter account (@INQRIprogram #inqri2011).

SPEACS 2: Improving Patient Communication and Quality Outcomes in the ICU

We encourage you to submit your questions or comments via the blog or INQRI's twitter account (@INQRIprogram #inqri2011).

Interdisciplinary Mobility Team Approach to Reduction of Facility-Acquired Pressure Ulcers

We encourage you to submit your questions or comments via the blog or INQRI's twitter account (@INQRIprogram #inqri2011).

Nursing Intervention to Facilitate Patient Activation for Improved Pain Self Management

We encourage you to submit your questions or comments via the blog or INQRI's twitter account (@INQRIprogram #inqri2011).

Nursing's Specific Contributions to Quality Palliative Care within the Context of Interdisciplinary Intensive Care Practice

We encourage you to submit your questions or comments via the blog or INQRI's twitter account (@INQRIprogram #inqri2011).

A Message From David Krol

We encourage you to submit your questions or comments via the blog or INQRI's twitter account (@INQRIprogram #inqri2011).

Wednesday Schedule of Events

Tune in to the INQRI blog tomorrow to catch up on what's happening at the annual meeting in Princeton and to watch the presentation of findings. You can submit your questions to our researchers by commenting on the blog and following along on Twitter using hashtag #inqri2011.

Schedule of Presentations on Wednesday, July 13

11:15am
“Nursing's Specific Contributions to Quality Palliative Care within the Context of Interdisciplinary Intensive Care Practice”
Oregon Health & Science University - Lissi Hansen and Michael Leo

11:45am
“Nursing Intervention to Facilitate Patient Activation for Improved Pain Self Management”
University of California, Davis - Debra Fishman and Heather Young

1:30pm
“Interdisciplinary Mobility Team Approach to Reduction of Facility-Acquired Pressure Ulcers”
University of Cincinnati - Tracey Yap and Jay Kim

2:00pm
“SPEACS 2: Improving Patient Communication and Quality Outcomes in the ICU”
University of Pittsburgh - Mary Beth Happ and Amber Barnato

2:30pm
“A Diabetes Prevention Program in the Community”
Yale University - Robin Whittemore and Alana Rosenberg

We will also be posting videos from RWJF leaders, commenting on the important work of the INQRI program. Stay tuned for updates from our speakers and on Thursday, we'll post updates about successful tips for messaging. We'll also share information about the new Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action research agenda.

Please join us!

Meeting Session: Messaging Your Research

We are so pleased that Susan Dentzer, editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, will be moderating a session on successful strategies to develop messages about research findings.  Susan will lead our meeting participants in small group work to help craft key messages regarding the work of three of our grantee teams:

Creation of a Nurse Manager Development Program to Increase Patient Safety

Rutgers University

Evidence indicates leadership skills of frontline nurse managers are key to creating magnetic work environments that promote positive outcomes. Yet, weaknesses in nurse managers' skills often result in environments that threaten patient safety. To translate evidence to practice, this team has built upon their prior INQRI study to design an intervention to increase patient safety by enhancing the leadership and team building skills of nurse managers. They have partnered with award-winning journalist and patient safety advocate Suzanne Gordon and other interdisciplinary experts including a certified Crew Resource Management trainer to design and implement a nurse manager development program.

Translation of a Transitional Care Nursing Intervention for People with Serious Mental Illness
University of Pennsylvania

The transition from a psychiatric hospitalization back into the community is a vulnerable period for individuals with serious mental illness. Cycling in and out of psychiatric hospitals and emergency services is harmful to this population and depletes scarce public resources. The Transitional Care Model for Persons with Serious Mental Illness (TCM-SMI) proposes to break this cycle by providing 90 days of intensive hospital-to-home services. This project is designed to translate the TCM intervention to meet the complex needs of SMI clients in public managed care.

Dissemination and Implementation of Evidence-Based Methods to Measure and Improve Pain Outcomes
University of Utah

This project will disseminate and implement evidence-based approaches to measure and improve pain care and outcomes in a sample of 100 hospitals across the United States. The program is unique in forging a partnership with the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators® (NDNQI). The research team will replicate the NDNQI data collection strategy for pressure ulcers and collect data regarding pain care and outcomes at the patient level across multiple hospitals and units on a given day. The team will finalize and implement a set of pain quality indicators (PQI) within the NDNQI based on their previous INQRI work to develop Pain Care Quality measures.

Click below to read Susan's bio.

Meeting Session: Quality Improvement and Evaluation

We're pleased to announced that Gareth Parry, research scientist at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, will join us next week to give a presentation entitled, "Quality Improvement and Evaluation."  Dr. Parry will present during the first day of our annual meeting.  Please check back here on the evening of July 13 for a recap of the day, including his presentation.

Please click below to read Dr. Parry's bio.

INQRI Keynote Speaker Announced

We are excited to announce that Bruce Vladeck, Senior Advisor to Nexera Inc., will be giving the keynote address at next week's annual meeting.  We will give some recaps on his presentation entitled "The Vision Thing: Doing Research and Changing the World" at the conclusion of Day 1 (July 13).

Click below to read Dr. Vladeck's bio.

And head on back to this blog on Wednesday afternoon to get caught up on "the vision thing."

Congratulations to Cohort 4 on the Completion of Your Studies

Next week, the members of INQRI's fourth cohort of grantees will be presenting their findings during our annual meeting.  You can visit this blog on Tuesday to watch their presentations and submit questions to our teams. 

INQRI Cohort 4

"Nursing's Specific Contributions to Quality Palliative Care within the Context of Interdisciplinary Intensive Care Practice" - Oregon Health & Science University

Very little is known about the relationships between quality palliative nursing care delivered in intensive care units (ICUs) and patient and family outcomes and on how to measure and to improve these outcomes. The purpose of this investigator-initiated study was to examine nursing's specific contributions to quality palliative care provided to patients and their families in the ICU.

"Nursing Intervention to Facilitate Patient Activation for Improved Pain Self Management" - University of California, Davis

This experimental study evaluated an assessment-based counseling intervention to promote successful pain self-management in spine surgery patients. The team evaluated for Return On Investment by measuring outcomes (pain, function and depression) and value to the care delivery system as well as to patients. The team tracked costs to patients (care utilization over and above usual post-surgical care), costs of the intervention and opportunity costs.

"Interdisciplinary Mobility Team Approach to Reduction of Facility-Acquired Pressure Ulcers" - University of Cincinnati

This nurse-led interdisciplinary research team developed a sustainable, system-wide program for pressure ulcer prevention that enhances mobility of long-term care residents. The primary goal, under nursing's leadership, was to reduce LTC facility-acquired pressure ulcer incidence by 50% using a cost-effective innovative program to increase resident active or passive movement.

"SPEACS 2: Improving Patient Communication and Quality Outcomes in the ICU" - University of Pittsburgh

This project examined 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. The interdisciplinary research team from the University of Pittsburgh includes nurses, physicians, speech-language pathologists and biostatisticians.

"A Diabetes Prevention Program in the Community" - Yale University

This team conducted a randomized clinical trial to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in at-risk adults with a diabetes prevention program provided by visiting nurses in subsidized housing units. They modified a research-based diabetes prevention program; evaluated the preliminary effects of the modified diabetes prevention program provided by visiting nurses; and explored the reach, adoption, implementation, and cost of a diabetes prevention program delivered by visiting nurses to residents in subsidized housing units.

As the teams present live to our guests in Princeton, our blog will host a YouTube video of them presenting to you. Simply visit our blog next Wednesday from 11:15am-12:15pmET and then again from 1:30pm-3:00pmET. You can enter questions in our comments section and we will make sure that the researchers answer.

Also, please follow our meeting conversation on Twitter with hashtag #inqri2011.

Virtual Participation in the Upcoming INQRI Meeting

You are cordially invited to participate virtually in the sixth annual meeting of the Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI) program July 13-14, 2011.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's INQRI program funds research that examines the linkages between nursing and the quality of patient care. At this year's annual meeting, guests will have the opportunity to meet our newest group of grantees, who are studying efforts to implement and spread evidence-based interventions in which nurses play a central role and that have been shown to improve the quality of patient care. In addition, several of our "graduating" grantees will present their findings. These researchers are addressing the value of nursing in achieving efficient, high quality patient care.

As in years past, we are inviting those who cannot attend the meeting to "follow" us via the INQRI blog and on Twitter, using hashtag #INQRI2011.

This year, however, we will feature a new aspect to those joining us virtually. On July 13, grantees who are completing their work this year will present their findings. As they present live to our guests in Princeton, our blog will host a YouTube video of them presenting to you. Simply visit our blog from 11:15am-12:15pmET and then again from 1:30pm-3:00pmET. You can enter questions in our comments section and we will make sure that the researchers answer.

If you have any questions about the INQRI meeting, please contact Heather Kelley-Thompson at hkelley@nursing.upenn.edu.

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Independence Day from everyone at the INQRI program!

Upcoming Webinar on Care Transitions Featuring INQRI Director Mary Naylor

The Partnership for Patients, teaming up with the National Quality Forum, will be hosting the second in a series of free patient safety webinars on Wednesday, July 6 at 3:00pm EDT: "Reducing Readmissions Through Care Transitions."

Featured speakers include:

Mary Naylor, Ph.D., RN – Professor of Gerontology, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Eric Coleman, M.D., MPH – Chief Medical Office, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

REGISTER TODAY!

This session will discuss the goal of decreasing preventable complications during a transition from one care setting to another. Follow-up webinars will include topics on adverse drug events, infections in intensive care units, surgical site infections, pressure ulcers and injuries from falls, venous thromboembolism, and obstetrical adverse events.