UI nursing researchers granted $1.9 million to improve nursing home care - The University of Iowa College of Nursing

UI nursing researchers granted $1.9 million to improve nursing home care

UI nursing researchers granted $1.9 million to improve nursing home care Professor Janet Specht, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.N.N. and Associate Professor Paula Mobily, Ph.D., R.N., have received $1.9 million in funding from the National Institute of Nursing Research to promote evidence-based practice, and nursing empowerment in long-term care settings in order to improve care and patient outcomes.

Poor quality nursing home care and resulting poor resident outcomes are of increasing concern, particularly for elders with urinary incontinence and pain, according to Specht and Mobily. “Despite the availability of evidence-based practice protocols that could dramatically improve care and outcomes, the use of these protocols in nursing homes is sparse,” Specht said.

The team will evaluate outcomes for nursing homes, elderly residents, and new ways to help registered nurses and certified nurse aides use the most current knowledge to care for elders with pain and urinary incontinence.

The study titled “Nursing Empowerment: Promoting Evidence-based Practice Adoption in Long Term Care,” builds on the team’s prior work, and proposes a systematic trial of the Multi-level Translation Research Application in Nursing Homes (M-TRAIN)intervention.

M-TRAIN combines models of translation research and empowerment research. The EBP component targets dissemination and implementation of practice changes, while the staff empowerment component increases staff’s sense of job ownership and personal satisfaction, which may decrease turnover. It is hoped the two approaches will be mutually reinforcing, and will result in better resident outcomes than either alone.

The study is innovative because M-TRAIN addresses nursing homes and staff variables that are barriers to practice changes, including training and supporting staff teams for EBP implementation and using an “insider” nurse consultant to assist the teams with implementation.

“This research is significant because of the urgent need in nursing homes to improve outcomes for elderly residents with incontinence and pain, retain staff, and the potential the EBP empowerment intervention has to do both,” Mobily said.

Specht is principal investigator, and Mobily is co-principal investigator of the study. Collaborators include Keela Herr, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., professor and chair of the Adult and Gerontology Area of Study in the UI College of Nursing, Gerry Jogerst, M.D., associate professor and interim head of family medicine in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine College of Medicine; Sara Sanders, Ph.D., L.S.W., School of Social Work; David Reed, statistician, College of Nursing; and Sheila Horras, R.N. as expert long-term care nurse.

August 9, 2007