Carolina Nursing Faculty awarded Dean’s Pilot Grant Funding
May 10, 2023
The UNC School of Nursing is excited to announce that nine of its faculty members, along with their interdisciplinary teams, have been awarded funding through the newly established Research, Education, and Quality Improvement Pilot Grant.
This grant, which was created by Dean Howard in the spring of 2023, supports innovative research, educational scholarship and quality improvement projects that align with Carolina Nursing’s mission of advancing health for all and one of the following initiatives:
- Initiative 1 funds projects that enhance the competitiveness of research proposals submitted for external funding.
- Initiative 2 funds projects that support educational scholarship and research in alignment with the National League for Nursing Research Priorities in Nursing Education.
- Initiative 3 supports quality improvement projects that address an identified priority to improve healthcare outcomes in an organization in alignment with SQUIRE 2.0 guidelines.
Applications for the first initiative were reviewed by Dr. Jennifer Leeman and RSC consultants. The STEP committee, led by Dr. Brittany Kenyon-Flatt and consisting of program associate deans and faculty representatives, reviewed applications for the second and third initiatives.
Initiative 1 awards were made to:
Dr. Leslie Davis, associate professor, for “Recognize and Report Heart Symptoms (REHEARSE)-2 Trial.”
Dr. Saif Khairat, associate professor, and Dr. Cheryl Jones, Interim Associate Dean for PhD Programs and Division and Sarah Frances Russell Distinguished Professor, for “Evaluation of Virtual Nursing Program to Combat Nursing Workforce Challenge.”
Dr. Grace Wu, assistant professor, for “Disinhibited Eating and Cardiovascular Diseases in Stressed Police Force: The Carolina Blue Project.”
Dr. Rose Xavier, assistant professor, for “Psychiatric provider perspectives on the diagnostic and therapeutic utility of copy number variant testing in schizophrenia.”
Initiative 2 awards were made to:
Dr. Kandyce Brennan, assistant professor (PI), and Ms. Evi Bonilla (co-PI) for “Providing Access and Support for Nursing Students (PASS Initiative).”
Dr. Meg Carman, associate professor, for “Patient Video Cases: A Virtual Simulation Tool to Develop Diagnostic Reasoning and Clinical Decision-Making Skills for Clinicians in the Acute Care Setting.”
Dr. Suja Davis, associate professor, (PI) and Dr. Rebecca Kitzmiller, associate professor, (co-PI) for “Incorporation of Interactive Student Activities into DNP Informatics Curricula.”
Dr. Audra Rankin, assistant professor, for “Global to Local: Creating sustainable health care solutions through an exploration of value-based care using digital technology.”
One Initiative 3 award was made to:
Dr. Tracy Vernon-Platt, assistant professor, for “Enhanced Recovery After Surgery: Implementing a Comprehensive Evidence-Based Practice Pathway for Cardiac Surgery at the UNC Medical Center.”
Awardees and their teams will carry out these pilot projects from May 1, 2023, through April 30, 2024, after which they will share their discoveries with a wider audience by disseminating findings in academic nursing journals and national conferences. The awardees will also present their project findings to the School of Nursing faculty and staff.
We would like to express our gratitude to the review committees for their invaluable contributions and expertise and congratulate all awardees on this outstanding achievement!