Nursing
Awards and Rankings
September 18, 2024
Bolstered by a grant from the Cambia Health Foundation, University of Portland is leading the academic charge to improve the quality of life for those living with chronic illnesses.
The $127,500 grant—titled “A Model of Palliative Care Nursing Education”—provides educational tools to empower future nurses to care for the world’s growing population of people with serious or chronic illnesses. As one of the grant’s lead investigators, Dr. Andra Davis, associate professor in UP’s School of Nursing and Health Innovations (UPSONHI), is developing the roadmap for nursing faculty nationwide to integrate advanced palliative care instruction into their programs.
“Generalist palliative care is a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to care that strives to align with the wishes of a person with serious illness and their loved ones. The overarching goal is to maximize quality of life and reduce the burden of symptoms,” Dr. Davis explains.
“It is a fundamental component of our nursing education here at UP, and we are proud to be a leader in educational excellence for palliative care not only in the Northwest, but across the nation.”
Aiming to “think about palliative care differently,” Dr. Davis began research in 2021 through a City of Hope grant subaward. The University’s partnership with Cambia Health Foundation aims to build upon that work. Since 2007, the Foundation has invested more than $65M to advance palliative care access, awareness and quality across the nation, including over $2.2 million in the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC). The Foundation also established the Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program, which aims to identify, cultivate and advance the next generation of palliative care leaders.
Research indicates that nursing students haven’t felt adequately prepared to manage the complexities of caring for seriously ill patients. And yet, nurses spend more time with seriously ill patients and their families than any other healthcare provider and fill a pivotal role in their healthcare journeys.
In mid-July, UPSONHI hosted 111 college nursing educators from 38 states for a grant-funded, two-day workshop to develop teaching and evaluation strategies for palliative care education. At the UP-hosted workshop, nursing school faculty collaborated to discuss educational resources, evaluation measures and teaching strategies to improve student learning outcomes in their nursing programs.
“I was thrilled and inspired to see so many faculty eager to learn more about how to help nursing students develop palliative care skills and explore ways to enrich their curriculum,” said Dr. Joane Moceri, Dean of UPSONHI. “We hope to host this event again next summer.”
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