Overview

OSF HealthCare encourages all nurses with a research question or idea for a research study and those who desire to implement or change a nursing practice based on research to pursue these endeavors. To support these nurses, OSF HealthCare has collaborated with nursing faculty at our two Colleges of Nursing to create a Nursing Research/Evidence Based Practice (EBP) Council that represents all entities. The council reviews all Nursing and Allied Health projects (excluding students from OSF Colleges and those otherwise part of clinical research such as medical research or drug studies) being conducted at OSF HealthCare involving any patient, or nurse (either as subject or investigator), and requiring Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. Members of the council 

• Serve as his or her local/regional contact for research and/or EBP projects
• Serve as site principle investigators for Ministry-wide nursing research studies
• Provide educational activities related to EBP and/or research
• Serve as mentors for EBP fellows and novice nurse researchers
• Serve as mentors to nurses writing abstracts related to their IRB approved projects for podium/poster presentations at local, regional, and national conferences
• Serve as mentors to nurses who are seeking to publish the work from their IRB approved projects

Current Work

Nursing research studies and Implementation Science/EBP Projects in progress across the OSF Ministry as of May 2023 include:

• New Graduate Nurse Professional Development Planning, Adkins, Cassandra, OSF Ministry/LCMMC
• Cardio-Oncology Program: Screening for Cardiotoxicity, Anderson, Christine, SAMC
• The Development and Implementation of a Ultrasound Guided Peripheral Intravenous (USGPIV) Multimodal Nurse Training Program Principal Investigator, Belden, Tim, SJMC
• Will a dedicated education unit, where nursing students work with staff RNs, improve the students' clinical experience and recruit new grads to SAMC, Carson, Beth, SAMC
• To evaluate patient experience and implement the self- collected vaginal swab collection method for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis / Neisseria gonorrhea in the urgent care setting. Cousins, Dawn, SAMC
• Evaluation of the Stephenson and Carroll County Healthy Living Project [Faculty Research], Dalstrom, Matt, SAMC
• Advanced hemodynamic monitoring simulation for improved retention and application among critical care nurses. Delinski, Nicole, OSF Ministry
• Implementation of Updated Screening Tool to Identify Human Trafficking Victims within the Emergency Department. Flinn, Laura, SFMC
• Efficacy of Virtual Reality (VR) as an Education Intervention [Fire in the OR]. Freehill, Shanna, Ministry, Strack, Lisa, SJMC, Burdette, Kaitlyn, SPMC
• Identifying At-Risk Baccalaureate Nursing Students through the use of the ARS-30, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale [Faculty Research]. Frichtl, Mary Jo, SAMC
• Virtual Discharge to Enhance Discharge Timeliness and Improve Hospital Throughput. Harlan, Andrea, SFMC
• A Multisite Cross-Sectional Survey of Job-related Attitudes and Characteristics of Advanced Practice Providers, Klein, Colleen, OSF Ministry
• A Pilot Intervention Study to Promote Wellness in Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), Klein, Colleen, OSF Ministry
• Impact of motivational encouragement based sessions on CPAP adherence and cognitive function. Knorr, Melissa & McKenzie, Erika, SAMC
•  Implementation of an extended unit-specific nurse education program to decrease nursing turnover in two pediatric critical care units. Kupferschmid, Megan & Monk, Samantha, SFMC
• Proning improves ARDS outcome, but pressure ulcers (PUs) are common. Evaluating the most appropriate interventions to prevent PUS. Lomas, Courtney, SAMC
• Improving Student Simulation Experiences [Faculty Research], Moser, Dawn, SAMC
• Family Case Management:  Adding to Individual Case Management Services by Evaluating the Needs of the Homeless Family  , Pierce, Ashley, SJMC
• Assessment of Staffing Model Effect on the Development of Unit Acquired Pressure Injuries, Reitz, Erin, SJMC
• Assessing the effects of an Emotional Intelligence program on job satisfaction and engagement at work in undergraduate nursing faculty. Robinson, Melissa, SAMC
• Benefits of Early Palliative Care in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Runestad, Denise, SAMC
• Implementation of a Turn Team to decrease the incidence of hospital-acquired pressure injuries in the ICU. Schepers, Lisa, SAHC
• Impact of virtual reality simulation for teaching high risk, emergent situations in women's health. Schnake, Tammy, et al., OSF Ministry
• Assessment of the current targeted temperature management (TTM) protocols at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center (SAMC). Sierontnik, Karolina, SAMC
• Development and Pilot Testing of Virtual Standardized Patients for Triage Training, Stein, Ann, SFMC
• Identifying gaps in care for patients discharged from the hospital with a primary or secondary diagnosis of COPD exacerbation with a goal to prevent readmissions. Thomas, Kristina, SAMC
• Use of the Pasero Opioid-Induced Sedation Scale (POSS) to Assess Pediatric Patients receiving Opioids for Pain Management, Wilkins, Tammy, SFMC
• Ethics Education Supporting Nurse Leaders, Williamson, Jill, OSF Ministry
• Management of Patients with Aggressive Behavior: Using In-Situ Simulation to Assess Staff Response and Role Delineation, Williamson, Jill, OSF Ministry
• The Violence Assessment Tool: A Reliability Study, Williamson, Jill, OSF Ministry
• Implementation of a standardized Nurse-led hypertension medication management protocol to reduce blood pressure in adult patients diagnosed with hypertension., Wimmer, Dawn, OSF Healthcare
• Evaluation of team communication in in situ simulations for maternal post-partum hemorrhage. Woolridge, Abigail, Adkins, Cassandra, Williamson, Jill, OSF Ministry