RESEARCH OREGON 2006: OHSU SCHOOL OF NURSING
The Business of Care
NURSING RESEARCH STRENGTHENS OUR HEALTH AND OUR ECONOMY.
Your brother was just diagnosed with cancer. He suffers from
extreme fatigue and you don’t know how to help him. And
what about all the time you take from work for his medical
appointments?
Your mother died of a heart attack. She didn’t recognize
the symptoms. Will you?
Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University
School of Nursing are just as concerned about these issues as
you are. That’s why they’ve taken on studies to
focus on alleviating symptoms, enhancing well-being, and caring
for our parents and our children.
They know, like you do, that the health and well-being of
every Oregonian benefits each and every one of us —
personally and economically.
Here is just a sampling of nursing research currently under
way:
+ ALLEVIATING CANCER
TREATMENT-RELATED FATIGUE — Fatigue has been
called the most important, under-treated symptom in cancer
today, affecting 75% to 80% of patients.
+ ALLEVIATING SYMPTOMS IN
CHILDREN WITH LEUKEMIA — Children with leukemia
are treated with chemotherapy that can entail six to eight
months of intensive treatments, followed by two years or more
of maintenance therapy. Pain and fatigue were the problems
reported most frequently by these children.
+ INCREASING PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY IN RURAL ADULTS — Obesity and chronic
illnesses associated with inactivity are more common in rural
adults than in those who live in urban environments.
+ CONVERTING TREATMENT WISHES
INTO ORDERS AT END OF LIFE — Traditional
end-of-life directives are problematic because they do not
always guide specific treatment decisions based on a
person’s current health status.
+ TREATMENT SEEKING DELAY IN
SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH — Although heart disease is
the No. 1 killer of women, many don’t recognize the signs
of a heart attack and when they do, they often postpone seeking
treatment.
+ HELPING PRIMARY CARE
PROVIDERS USE GENETIC INFORMATION — New
information on genetic conditions is available to help patients
and families make informed decisions about testing and
treatment. Primary care providers are pivotal in conveying this
information.
+ MEDICATION MANAGEMENT IN
ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES — Residents typically
have four or more medical conditions and take six regularly
scheduled medications.
+ CUSTOMIZING FAMILY
CARE — The average hospital length of stay for
patients following a bone marrow transplant has been reduced
from months to days, leaving the role of caregiver to
families.
+ MAXIMIZING THE BENEFITS OF
EXERCISE IN FIBROMYALGIA — Fibromyalgia is a
common, costly and debilitating chronic pain syndrome diagnosed
in nearly 6 million Americans, of which 90% are
women.
For more information about
specific research at the OHSU School of Nursing, please visit
www.ohsu.edu/son.
Measures of Success
+ The OHSU School of Nursing ranks sixth overall among nursing
schools nationwide, as reported in U.S. News
& World Report.
+ All of the school's master’s degree specialty programs
rank in the top 10, and nurse-midwifery ranks first in
the nation.
+ The National Institutes of Health ranks the OHSU School of
Nursing 15th in NIH-funded dollars.
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