The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Awards $300,000 to Schools of Nursing and Public Health as part of national effort

Interprofessional research team to study best practices for the care of heart failure patients

Contact:    
Peggy Malikowski, School of Nursing, 612-624-6696 or malik025@umn.edu
Diana Harvey, School of Public Health, 612-625-7134 or dharvey@umn.edu

 MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (Dec. 12, 2008) - 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.

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., 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, MD, MS, and Anju Sahay, PhD, 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.

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." 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 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.

The University of Minnesota's School of Nursing, ranked among the nation's top nursing schools, is a leader in improving health care through research, education, and service. Its nationally and world-renowned scientists discover practical health care treatments and solutions people can use today to improve their daily lives. The oldest continuing university-based school of nursing in the nation, it now has a combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of approximately 850 students. The school educates 55 percent of the faculty in Minnesota's public and private nursing schools, advanced practice nurses, and nurses who can assume leadership positions.

 The School of Nursing is part of the Academic Health Center, one of the most comprehensive facilities for health professionals in the nation, fostering interdisciplinary study, research, and education. For additional information on the University of Minnesota's School of Nursing, go to www.nursing.umn.edu.

 For more than 60 years, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health has been among the top accredited schools of public health in the nation.  With a mission focused on research, teaching, and service, the school attracts nearly $70 million in sponsored research each year, has more than 100 faculty members and more than 1,300 students, and is engaged in community outreach activities locally, nationally and in dozens of countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.sph.umn.edu. The School's Centers for Public Health Education and Outreach promotes lifelong learning to bridge academic and public health practice communities.

 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, we work with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 35 years we've brought experience, commitment and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those we serve. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, we expect to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.