Critical nursing research projects receive support with the announcement of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ annual grant winners, leading nurse organizations take a stand against misinformation, and New Jersey empowers its nurses with the Nurse Licensure Compact. Read on for more nursing news and insights.
AACN Announces Annual Research Grants Recipients
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has announced the recipients of its annual research grants. This year the association has awarded three AACN Impact Research Grants up to $50,000 each and the AACN-Sigma Critical Care Grant with up to $10,000 in funding.
Since launching the grant program in 2011, AACN has awarded more than $1 million and 27 Impact Research Grants. The goal: to help ensure a pipeline for evidence-based resources in support of a wide range of priorities, according to AACN officials.
AACN Impact Research Grants support clinical inquiry that drives change in acute and critical care nursing practice. The grants are designed to help ensure a vital source of clinically relevant research for creating evidence-based resources. Five priority areas guide AACN’s research activities:
- Effective and appropriate use of technology to achieve optimal patient assessment, management, and/or outcomes;
- Creation of healing, humane environments;
- Processes and systems that foster the optimal contributions of acute and critical care nurses;
- Effective approaches to symptom management; and
- Prevention and management of complications
This year’s funded projects and grant recipients include:
Pediatric Recovery after Sepsis Treatment in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PERSIST-PICU)
Mallory Perry, PhD, RN, CCRN, Provost’s postdoctoral fellow for academic diversity, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is the principal investigator, with support from an expert mentorship team of pediatric critical care clinicians and researchers.
This study will analyze data from three pediatric critical care studies funded by the National Institutes of Health to explore the impact of sepsis-related inflammation on new morbidities in pediatric patients who survived acute respiratory failure. The study aims to understand physical function outcomes in critically ill children with or without sepsis.
The goal is to develop a multivariable model to identify pediatric patients who may be at increased risk of physical morbidity and symptoms post-critical illness, leading to tailored interventions to optimize healing and recovery post-PICU.
Telomere Biology and Associations with Morbidity in Critical Ill (Impact Research Grant)
The lead researcher is Zhan Liang, PhD, assistant professor, University of Miami. This innovative study will examine the relationship between telomeres, sections of DNA that provide genomic stability but shorten over time with reduced protective attributes, and ICU- and post-ICU-related outcomes, as well as the potential moderating effect of oxidative stress. The results will inform the design of larger studies targeting modifiable factors to improve patient outcomes.
Influence of Unplanned Hypothermia and Inflammatory Biomarkers on Delirium Incidence in Critically Ill Adult Surgical Patients (Impact Research Grant)
Doreen Wagner, PhD, RN, CNOR, FAAN, professor of nursing, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, is the principal investigator for the study. Dr. Wagner’s research builds on the recent retrospective study she led that found a complex relationship between postoperative delirium and unplanned hypothermia.
The results aim to determine the influence of unplanned perioperative hypothermia on the development of postoperative delirium in critically ill surgical patients across the life span.
Intensive Care Unit Delirium in the COVID-19 Pandemic (AACN-Sigma Grant)
Brian Peach, PhD, RN, CCRN, assistant professor, University of Central Florida College of Nursing, Orlando, received the grant. Patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure are potentially more vulnerable to the effects of delirium due to differences in treatment, but the extent to which this is true remains unknown.
The researchers will review data from a sample of 110 electronic medical records, evenly split between patients with respiratory failure and COVID-19 and those who are COVID-negative. The analysis will look at delirium incidence rates between the two groups and compare group differences in nursing and medical care factors.
AACN will award up to three $50,000 Impact Research Grants in 2022, officials said. Principal investigators must be current AACN members with either an earned master’s degree or completed candidacy requirements for a doctoral degree. Sigma members are also eligible to apply for the AACN-Sigma grant.
“As we mark the 10th year since AACN established the Impact Research Grant program, we affirm our long-standing commitment to nurse-driven research and evidence-based practice,” said Connie Barden, MSN, RN, CCRN-K, CCNS, chief clinical officer of the AACN. “AACN-funded projects continue to influence the care provided by nurses every day and help improve outcomes for patients and their families.”
For more information, including award criteria and supporting documents, send email to [email protected]
Related: Nursing Leadership in Today’s Healthcare Climate
Nursing Organizations Issue Policy Regarding Misinformation By Nurses
Officials with the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and seven other leading nursing organizations have issued a policy brief to address what they’re calling misinformation by some nurses being disseminated about COVID-19.
The brief notes that when nurses identify themselves by their profession, they are professionally accountable for the information they provide to the public. It is an expectation of the U.S. boards of nursing, the profession, and the public, the NCSBN states, that nurses uphold the truth, the principles of the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics for Nurses, and highest scientific standards when disseminating information about COVID-19 or any other health-related condition or situation.
The brief concludes by stating, “Nurses are urged to recognize that dissemination of misinformation not only jeopardizes the health and well-being of the public but may place their license and career in jeopardy as well.”
The brief, which is also endorsed by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, the American Nurses Association, the American Organization for Nursing Leadership, the National League for Nursing (NLN), the NLN Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation, the National Student Nurses’ Association, and the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing, can be read in its entirety online.
Related: Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing
New Jersey Implements Nurse License Compact
Nursing officials in the state of New Jersey have reportedly completed the process of implementing the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) for the Garden State. The NLC allows registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPN/LVNs), whose primary state of residence is in an NLC state to hold one multistate license, with the authority to practice in person or via telehealth, in both their home state and other NLC states.
In March 2020, the New Jersey Board of Nursing partially implemented the NLC. As a result, nurses who resided in other compact states and held an active multistate license in their state of residence were able to practice in New Jersey.
According to NLC officials, the Compact is fully implemented in New Jersey as of Nov. 15. Full implementation will allow nurses whose primary state of residence is New Jersey to apply for a multistate (compact) license.
“Through implementation of the NLC, regulatory burdens for [nurses] will be significantly reduced, said Sean P. Neafsey, acting director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, in a prepared statement. “Having the ability to obtain a multistate license will increase access to care for patients in New Jersey and other states.”
Nurses who currently hold a New Jersey RN or LPN license may apply to “upgrade” their existing single-state license to a multistate license. It is not necessary for New Jersey license holders to wait until their renewal period in order to apply for the multistate license. New graduates of nursing programs who are New Jersey residents may apply for licensure by exam from the New Jersey Board of Nursing and can choose to pursue a multistate license.
Once a nurse is issued a multistate license, the nurse may stop renewing any license held in another NLC state. Licensure requirements are aligned in NLC states and all nurses applying for a multistate license are required to meet those same standards, including submission to a federal and state fingerprint-based criminal background check.
With the multistate license, nurses are able to provide telehealth nursing services to patients located in NLC states without having to obtain additional licenses. A multistate license facilitates cross-border practice for many types of nurses who routinely practice with patients in other states, including primary care nurses, case managers, transport nurses, school and hospice nurses, and many others. Military spouses who experience moves every few years can also benefit from the multistate license.
Podcast Spotlight: The Q Word Podcast
This podcast is focused on emergency nursing and covers various tips, tricks, trends, and taboos of this particular nursing field. Listeners are given a peek behind the “hospital curtain” at issues and ideas that seldom get discussed. Recent episodes include “Truth, Justice, and a Better Supraglottic Airway” and “All Ox is Not Equal: The Limitations of Pulse Oximetry in Dark Skin Tones.”
Hosted by Nurse Nyssa and Nurse Lisa, the podcast is available online here.
Views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Elite Learning or Colibri Group. Media referenced in this news round-up does not constitute an endorsement.
