Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1342648
12 Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com February 22-March 29, 2021 he Nursing Research Department at Cedars-Sinai has a foot in both worlds: We sup- port quality improvement efforts within our health system while also conducting research projects aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of the populations we serve, including our own nursing workforce. Meet the Team The research team consists of two Ph.D.- prepared nurse scientists, two Ph.D.-pre- pared social scientists, a research clinical nurse specialist and two data analysts, sup- ported by a research coordinator and a management assistant. We were all drawn to this team by the intense desire to make a difference in real- world healthcare delivery. Our research agenda is heavily weighted toward health equity and clinician wellbeing. For example, our director, Bernice Coleman, RN, Ph.D., a nurse practitioner in cardiac transplant, is studying why African-Americans have poorer transplant surgery outcomes, even controlling for other risk factors. Our other Ph.D. nurse scientist, whose research has focused on nursing work envi- ronments, is currently seeking an objective measure for burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, which will help in developing effec- tive interventions to reduce provider burnout. Into the Community We're currently in the midst of a large fund- ed research project studying ways to pre- vent functional decline and injury/illness in older adults who live in low-income inde- pendent housing in the Los Angeles area. This project has an interesting history that took us from hospital admissions data to discharge transitions and eventually into community-based interventions. About 10 years ago, we mounted an effort to rapidly identify inpatients at risk of frailty, who tend to have poorer health out- comes and are at higher risk of injury and hospital-acquired conditions. We conducted a randomized trial that demonstrated that older adult patients who went through a frailty intervention program had shorter average lengths of stay and were half as Solving Problems What can be done to help frail older adults retain their independence? The Cedars-Sinai Nursing Research Team launched a decade-long effort to find solutions. By Harriet Aronow, Ph.D. Research Scientist Cedars-Sinai Nursing Research Department T Observations Bernice Coleman, RN, Ph.D.