Bowers Receives $200,000 Research Award That Will Help Heart Failure Patients

Bowers Receives $200,000 Research Award That Will Help Heart Failure Patients

Margaret “Midge” Bowers, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, CHFN, A.A.C.C., FAANP, associate professor and faculty coordinator of the Adult Nurse Practitioner major and lead faculty of the Cardiovascular specialty for Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON), received an award of nearly $200,000 to carry out her research project titled “Nurse-led Models of Care” from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2018. The award, a joint effort between DUSON and Duke University Health System (DUHS), is funded by Kevin Sowers, MSN, RN, president of Duke University Hospital.

The goal of the research study is to develop a database for effective outcome tracking of all patients followed in the Duke Heart Failure Same Day Access Clinic (SDAC) and specific skilled nursing facilities (SNFs).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 5.7 million adults in the U.S. suffer from heart failure. This study is designed to assess the effectiveness of a doctor of nursing practice (DNP)-led heart failure clinic.

“This database will provide a ‘living lab’ for evaluation of clinical effectiveness, outcomes, cost and utilization of resources in patients with heart failure seen by DNP-prepared nurses,” said Bowers.

The study will record data from adult patients receiving care in the SDAC from one of two DNP providers. During four clinic visits at three-month intervals, the patients will be asked to complete the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire, the Six-Minute Walk Test and the American Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers.

The collected data will help develop an infrastructure for a database that will allow for important questions related to heart failure outcomes to be evaluated in the future.

Marilyn Hockenberry, PhD, RN, PNP-BC, FAAN, Bessie Baker Professor of Nursing and associate dean for Research Affairs, is the co-principal investigator on this study. Karol Harshaw-Ellis, MSN’94, DNP’11, nurse practitioner at Duke Health, and Zubin Eapen, MD, director of the Duke Heart Failure SDAC, are involved in the study as co-investigators.

Story written by Kelly Jasiura

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