Transforming research

The School of Nursing is empowering health with the discovery of new approaches, interventions and prevention strategies. As the cost of health care continues to increase, and the disparities widen, nurse scientists are well positioned to find simple solutions to complex health problems.

Discovery always starts with a question. With their experience at the bedside, in clinics, home settings and in communities, nurses have the front-line perspective to ask the important questions.
• How could we prevent that?
• What if we tried this?
• Why did this work?

Their informed questions — combined with the scientific rigor gained from a PhD degree — prepare our faculty to ask and answer questions that can lead to less invasive, more effective and less costly care.
Increasingly, we rely on philanthropy to conduct preliminary studies to test methodology and prove an approach is viable. Examples of privately-funded research currently underway at the School of Nursing includes:
• Preventing diabetes in children in rural Minnesota
• Improving diagnosis and treatment of peripheral artery disease
• Helping children thrive through their chemotherapy treatment
• Predicting adverse events using big data

Diabetes, obesity, and heart disease have no age limits nor are children immune to challenging health crises afflicting communities. As a nurse researcher, Assistant Professor Anne Chevalier McKechnie, PhD, RN, has conducted research on the psychological toll a prenatal diagnosis of a serious health condition, such as congenital heart disease, can have on expectant parents. To help families navigate this difficult journey, she is developing Preparing Heart and Mind: A Nurse-Guided Patient Engagement Care Program for Parents and Healthcare Providers. One of the unique aspects of the program is an app designed to provide parents with emotional and educational resources, and connect them to a nurse who can be a consistent, supportive guide from pregnancy through infant hospitalization. The goal is to reduce distress and increase infant caregiving confidence for parents beginning before birth.

“This project draws on what parents and health care professionals have shared with me, and can lead to the best ways for meeting parents’ needs during this intensely challenging time. The seed funding from the School of Nursing Foundation allowed me to further develop new and innovative content for the patient engagement care program, which puts me in a stronger position for the next step of seeking federal funding.”
_{– Anne Chevalier McKechnie, assistant professor}