Science in Service of Our Community

Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve…. You only need a heart full of grace- a soul generated by love.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 20th marked the 30th observance of Martin Luther King Jr Day. This moment is an opportunity for many of us to reflect on how we can be of service to our communities by continuing to deepen and shape our collective impact.

The question of what we, as nurses, are doing for others is in many ways foundational to our profession’s existence. We chose nursing to serve our community members in their time of need; to be of use to humankind, and to make the gifts of time and education matter. Yet, as many of us transition from practicing clinical nurses to nurse scientists and innovators, that raison d’être can often become obscured.

The UW School of Nursing’s philanthropically- supported Research Intramural Funding Program (RIFP) is an opportunity to expand our horizons through research impact. This week we want to highlight recipients of the UW School of Nursing’s RIFP. A common thread throughout these proposals is a deep dedication to using science to improve the health and wellbeing of our community’s most marginalized people.

Recognizing that the children of parents living with cancer are often overlooked in their parent’s treatment journey, Drs. Fran Lewis and Bethanny Rolf Witham will adapt their successful Enhancing Connections programs for Spanish-speaking families. Older adults with dementia are among society’s most vulnerable and are hard to study. Yet, these challenges have never daunted Dr. Oleg Zaslavsky – a pioneer in digital health innovations for those experiencing dementia. His RIFP will allow him to develop a cloud-based artificial intelligence system for early detection of pneumonia in individuals living with dementia who reside in long term care facilities. Our third RIFP recipient, Dr. Vitor Oliveira, will develop a hybrid exercise intervention to improve the health of adults living with HIV and heart failure. Non-pharmacological strategies to manage chronic diseases, including heart failure, are promising but often overlooked strategies for healthy aging.

Each of these investigators are centering members of our community that are often overlooked in traditional research. They demonstrate the audacity of nurses to innovate and improve systems in service of our patients—a hallmark of our profession.

Nelson Mandela once said, “A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination”. How fortunate we are to have colleagues, teachers, scientists, and friends right here in the UW School of Nursing who have never doubted, and continue to employ, this formidable combination as they develop tools to improve the lives of our community’s most vulnerable.

~Allison Webel, PhD, RN, FAAN