Newswise — CHICAGO (November 15, 2016): At ARN REACH 2016 in Philadelphia, PA, September 28 – October 1, 2016, the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses’ (ARN’s) Rehabilitation Nursing Foundation (RNF) awarded Michelle Camicia, MSN CRRN CCM FAHA, a grant for her research on Preparedness Assessment for the Transition Home after Stroke (PATH-s): Testing of Psychometric Properties.
RNF awarded the $28,465 grant to Michelle, during the RNF Symposium at the REACH 2016 conference. Every two years, RNF funds up to $30,000 to facilitate projects intended to have a significant impact on rehabilitation nursing and rehabilitation nursing research. The 2016 RNF Grant Call for Research Proposals sought research studies focusing on Care Transitions: the coordination or transition of care and services from one provider to another, one health care facility to another, or from a health care facility to home in a rehabilitation patient population. The current national emphasis on improving transitions of care is intended to improve patient safety and health outcomes while reducing unnecessary costs.
RNF Chairwoman Beverly Reigle, PhD RN, commends Michelle on the outstanding research she proposed –“Michelle’s proposal demonstrated methodological rigor, congruency with the special call topic, a research trajectory that includes the potential for significant extramural funding, and the potential impact her findings will have on rehabilitation nursing in the stroke survivor and caregiver populations. In her proposal, Michelle asserts that the transition of care from an IRF to home in the stroke survivor and caregiver population is often ineffective and inefficient resulting in ‘unmet patient and caregiver needs, increased safety risks, high rates of preventable readmissions, and increased health care costs.’ “However, no assessment instrument currently exists that specifically evaluates a family member’s commitment and capacity to assume the caregiving role of a stroke survivor when discharged from an IRF or sub-acute facility to home. The purpose of Michelle’s research is to assess the psychometric soundness of the Preparedness Assessment for the Transition Home after Stroke (PATH-s) instrument and as Michelle puts it, ‘to understand the predictive validity of the PATH-s to stratify the degree of risk of adverse health effects for the stroke survivors and their caregivers following transition from the IRF to home.’
ARN, along with Chairwoman Reigle look forward to the completion of Michelle’s study and the contribution her findings will make to the body of rehabilitation nursing knowledge.###Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN)ARN is a professional healthcare association dedicated to promoting and advancing professional rehabilitation nursing practice through education, advocacy, collaboration, and research to enhance the quality of life for those affected by disability and chronic illness. For more information about ARN, please visit www.rehabnurse.org or call 800.229.7530.
Rehabilitation Nursing Foundation (RNF)Established by the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses in 1976, RNF is dedicated to advancing rehabilitation nursing practice by promoting, supporting, conducting and disseminating research to improve the quality of healthcare to individuals with disability or chronic illness. For more information about RNF or to donate to the organization, please visit www.rehabnurse.org or call 800.229.7530.