The faculty at University of Detroit Mercy’s College of Health Professions (CHP) add dimension to their teaching careers by immersing themselves in research projects that draw on their desire to improve the health care system and their passion to educate.

Linda Thiel, O.P. Sr. Thiel studies clinical decision-making
Throughout last year, Linda Thiel, O.P., associate professor of Nursing at UDM’s Grand Rapids campus, guided a project between Mercy General Health Partners (MGHP) in Muskegon and the McAuley School of Nursing to launch an evidence-based practice initiative in the 281–bed hospital.

The first phase centered on creating an inventory to determine MGHP’s levels of readiness for engaging in evidence-based practice.  Evidence-based practice is clinical decision-making that a nurse would do based upon integration of the best research with clinical expertise and patient preference, explains Sr. Thiel.

Sr. Thiel and the MGHP nursing administration and nursing staff have presented their findings nationally and internationally.  Their next step is implementation.

One finding shows that music therapy decreases anxiety among patients who undergo special procedures such as X-rays.  Going forward, patients will be able to listen to music during these exams. 

Sr. Thiel’s research extends in another direction as well. She began a study this fall to measure the impact of a student honor code. The code supports the UDM Mission statement, which emphasizes values, respect for others and academic excellence. The students must maintain the highest standards of academic honesty.  Professionally, they are expected to behave ethically and to be accountable for their behaviors on campus and at clinical and internship sites.

“Students in all grades will take an oath and sign the honor code,” says Sr. Thiel. “The Grand Rapids campus will implement the honor code then survey the students a year later.  Data will be collected over a four-year period, tracking how the honor code makes a difference in the students’ sense of academic integrity.”

Schneider examines health outcomes
Julia Schneider’s research will help nurses and the public know more about outcomes of nursing care.

Schneider, assistant professor of Nursing and coordinator of CHP’s Health Systems Management program, focused on the effectiveness of the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) used by Medicare to collect patient outcome data in home health care.  She compared the OASIS system to the Nursing Outcome Classifications system (NOC). 

 “Good outcome measures provide nurses with valuable data on how to care for their patients,” says Schneider.  “They demonstrate to nurses that their care is effective and provide nurses with information that can be used to make changes in care in order to further improve patient outcomes.”

For Schneider’s study, home health care nurses collected data for one year at seven different homecare agencies throughout Southeast, Southwest and Northern Michigan.  The research revealed that NOC was more responsive to measuring change in patient outcomes than the OASIS.

“When there was improvement, the NOC system showed it,” says Schneider.

Soon, Schneider plans to publish her research findings in nursing and health care journals.  She is hopeful that her research results will influence public policy since all home health care agencies are required to report OASIS data to Medicare.   She suggests that changes might be made to OASIS in order to make it a better measure of change.   

Baiardi searches for the right communication tools
For Janet Baiardi, associate professor of Nursing and coordinator of CHP’s Family Nurse Practitioner program, finding the answers to her research will be like solving a puzzle.

Baiardi, along with Assistant Professors of Nursing Joyce Conley and Pat Rouen, is developing a pilot study that will determine whether or not the patients of the McAuley Health Center, a primary care clinic in southeast Detroit that is managed by nurses, understand the materials they are given at the center.  Baiardi believes that the materials sent home with patients are not being used or understood.   She will examine the information’s effectiveness from the language to the design of the materials.

Her study on health literacy is timely as it is a growing concerning of the medical industry.

“Health literacy is a nationwide issue that needs to be addressed. It is prevalent among the underserved and uninsured patients who come to the center for primary health care,” says Baiardi. “These patients need to manage their disease and understand how to take care of themselves after they leave the center.”

Baiardi says that some communication options she will review include using videos on site at the center, providing one-on-one teaching and distributing pamphlets that have more photos.

“Our goal with this study is to give our patients the information they need in the format that resonates with them,” says Baiardi.