Sabol Submits GAPNA Grant Application

Sabol Submits GAPNA Grant Application

Kudos to Valerie Sabol and her entire team for the submission of her Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA) grant application entitled "Exploring differences in obese and non-obese resident repositioning patterns." This proposal requests funding for a one-year period with a start date of Oct. 1, 2018.

Caring for elderly nursing home (NH) residents is a complex endeavor given the diversity of age-related concerns and chronic health conditions. Further complicating NH care, is the growing population of obese residents who require additional assistance and often place a burden on equipment and resources. Obese residents are often confined to their beds and require additional staff to reposition/move them so that pressure ulcers/injuries (PrU) are not developed; one of every nine NH residents experiences a PrU during their stay.  Nurse practitioners (NPs) are in a unique position to establish and promote strategies for effective nursing staff resident repositioning for improved PrU prevention among obese NH residents. This pilot study is a prospective analysis of data from an active NIH-funded (R01 NR016001-01A1) clinical trial (NCT02996331) that uses the Leaf Patient Monitoring System and aims to determine differences in new PrU incidence among NH residents repositioned at 2, 3, or 4 hour frequencies, and will determine how changes in medical severity interact with resident risk level and repositioning schedule to predict PrU development. Differences in demographics, repositioning frequency, duration and frequency of body positions, on-time repositioning compliance outcomes, and PrU development between obese and non-obese residents will be examined. This proposal, aligned with GAPNA’s research agenda, seeks to position NPs to enhance their contributions to NP-led practice models of patient-centered care in NHs and to clinical and economic outcomes (i.e., PrU prevention).

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