I’m extraordinarily proud to announce that the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) has nominated Hartford grantee Dr. Carol Farran, DNSc, RN, FAAN, and Dr. Ellen L. Brown, EdD, MS, ARNP, RN, to the roster of Edge Runners in its Raise the Voice campaign. Edge Runners are nurses who lead the way in creating innovative interventions and care models that improve clinical and financial outcomes for many of our most vexing health care challenges. Raise the Voice, a campaign funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a platform from which the nursing community can press for new thinking in health care reform. Edge Runners serve as real-world examples of new thinking in action.
Since 2007, Raise the Voice has accepted 45 Edge Runner applications. Encouraged to apply by the Hartford Geropsychiatric Nursing Collaborative, Drs. Farran and Brown are among the first Edge Runners showcased since Governor Edward Rendell (PA) succeeded Donna Shalala as advisory council chair in May.
Dr. Farran received the honor for her leadership in developing the Caregiver Skill Building Intervention (CSBI) at Rush University. Many family caregivers of those suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias are more vulnerable to developing their own health problems because of advanced age, stress, and sedentary lifestyle. CSBI seeks to improve the mental and physical health of these caregivers through behavioral health promotion interventions.
Currently, Dr. Farran serves as the Nurses Alumni Association Chair in Health and the Aging Process, professor, and division director of the PhD nursing program at Rush University Medical Center, College of Nursing, Graduate College. She also received this year’s John A. Hartford Foundation/MNRS Award for Leadership in Geriatric Nursing Research, which recognizes nurse members of the Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS) who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the field of geriatric nursing and who, through their mentorship and scholarship, have made a significant impact on quality of care for older adults.
AAN selected Dr. Brown for her research into the ability of home health nurses to accurately assess depression among their older adult patients and communicate their assessments to physicians. When nurses don’t have these skills, depression can go undiagnosed and untreated. Based on her findings, Dr. Brown and her colleagues developed videos of symptomatic patients, a tool kit that includes a checklist for information gathering, and an interactive training course to educate nurses. Related studies have shown these programs help nurses improve their skills in identifying patients at risk for depression and in communicating with the primary care provider.
Dr. Brown currently holds the position of associate professor of nursing at the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida.
AAN, headquartered in Washington, D.C., serves the public and the nursing profession by advancing health policy and practice through the generation, synthesis, and dissemination of nursing knowledge. Its 1,500 fellows are nursing's most accomplished leaders in education, management, practice, and research. The Geropsychiatric Nursing Collaborative is a Hartford-funded four-year collaborative project of the AAN and the Universities of Arkansas, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. Its purpose is to enhance the cognitive and mental health of older Americans.
Once again, our fondest and heartiest congratulations to Dr. Farran and Dr. Brown for their achievements and for gaining the recognition they so richly deserve.