Pitt School of Nursing Student Receives Geriatric Research Grant to Predict Falls Among Post-Stroke Elderly

PITTSBURGH , June 2008 — Grace Campbell, B.S.N., M.S.W., C.R.R.N., C.B.I.S., a pre-doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, is among 15 candidates in the United States to receive a prestigious Hartford Grant for studies in academic geriatric nursing. Ms. Campbell was selected for her doctoral research project, “Predicting Fall Risk in Older Adults in Post-Stroke Rehabilitation.” Ms. Campbell will receive $45,000 per year for two years in support of her geriatric research. The Hartford grant is part of the American Academy of Nursing’s Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity Program, titled, “Re-tooling for an Aging Society by Increasing the Number of Faculty Experts in Geriatric Nursing.”

“Elderly stroke patients are at high risk for falls, many of which are catastrophic. The Hartford Grant is validation that the medical community sees this as a very important issue,” said Ms. Campbell, who also is certified as both a rehabilitative nurse and brain injury specialist.

This year’s Hartford Grants announcements come on the heels of a new report from the Institute of Medicine, “Re-tooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Work Force.” The report argues that the health care workforce lacks both the size and the skill to care for the growing older population and its unique needs. The report cites that there are not enough geriatric specialists and generalists do not have enough training and experience to properly treat older patients.

“I am proud that Grace has been selected for the Hartford Grant. Her work is a testament to the School’s contribution to caring for elderly patients, especially with the challenges of a rapidly growing aging population. Her research will serve as an optimal model for a multidisciplinary team of experts who are rendering care to stroke patients,” says Jacqueline Dunbar Jacob, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., and Dean, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.

Founded in 1939, the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing educates nurses for increasingly demanding environments through a comprehensive curriculum that combines rigorous academic work with varied and intensive clinical experiences and a growing involvement in research. The School of Nursing graduate program is ranked seventh among America’s Best Graduate Schools, according to the U.S. News & World Report.