The WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing Academic Health Services has received a $10,000 scholarship from the Washington State Collaborative: Diabetes Management and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention.
A team of faculty nurse practitioners and support staff from the college and People’s Clinic will work together with clinic teams from across the state for 18 months, focusing on improving chronic care management for patients with diabetes.
Teams will test changes in their individual practices and collectively share lessons learned. The efforts will be focused on evidence-based care.
The opportunity to work with other state teams allows the best practices to be put in place.
The People’s Clinic, a nurse-managed health care clinic system, will focus on the adolescent and adult diabetic population whose access to primary care is impaired by economics, transportation, lack of insurance, cultural barriers and disabilities.
“In addition to faculty family nurse practitioners from the College of Nursing, the clinic also employs a diabetes educator,” said Margaret Bruya, assistant dean of Academic Health Services and professor at the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing. “The diabetic educator has expertise that directly impacts the care of many of our current diabetic clientele.”
The People’s Clinic has a strong history of established local, regional and national grants and gifts, including a federal nursing grant to improve the nursing workforce. Additional partnerships exist with other organizations to provide services for clients. These include Project Access, a program for residents of Spokane County assisting uninsured individuals with diagnostic test, specialist fees or medications, and preventive and restorative dental services through the Washington State Health Care Authority.
“Our nursing students will be able to apply chronic disease management skills—specifically diabetes management skills—to individuals in a clinic setting, particularly where the individuals are experiencing a health care disparity,” said Bruya. “Faculty specializing in diabetes management will be able to enhance and maintain their advanced practice skills with a statewide impact.”
For more information about the College of Nursing, visit the Web site at www.nursing.wsu.edu.
