Research & Education Grants

Meriter Foundation offers physicians and affiliated staff access to funding through its Research & Education Grants program.  A subcommittee of the Foundation Board of Directors awards, on average, $500,000 each year.

The studies and educational opportunities listed below are currently underway because of the financial support of Meriter Foundation.

2016 Research & Education Awards

EDUCATION

 

Nurse Residency Program ($50,000).  To deliver a training program to support and transition 32 newly graduated nurses from the academic setting to the professional role of nursing.  

 

Student Nurse Extern Program ($50,000).  To support a twelve-week program that allows baccalaureate nursing students, between their junior and senior year, the opportunity to begin the transition from student nurse to licensed professional nurse.

 

Attachment, Regulation and Competency Trauma Training ($26,000).  To train staff from Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Adult Psychiatry, NewStart and Emergency Department social workers about interventions for individuals who have experienced prolonged traumatic stress.

 

Medbridge Education Subscription for Therapists and Athletic Trainers ($15,200).  To provide continuing education in evidence-based practice to approx. 80 therapy providers (PT, OT and Athletic Trainers) in order to standardize treatment approaches.

 

Patient Experience Conference - The Beryl Institute ($10,500).  To support educational opportunities for leadership as Meriter explores best practices in patient experience.

 

Musculoskeletal Pain Training ($9,375).  To support on-site seminar for 50 physical and occupational therapists in best practices in the treatment of musculoskeletal chronic pain.

 

Ethics Committee Educational Programs ($8,500).  To provide training and guidance on ethical healthcare issues for medical, hospital and community professionals.

 

Care Coordination Conference ($8,000). To send three members of the Care Coordination team to a national conference to learn about current topics in case management, including transitions of care, care coordination and creating new case management programs across the entire continuum of care.

 

NANT Membership and Conference (7,960). To support sending six neonatal therapists to attend the National Association of Neonatal Therapists conference to learn about current research, therapy implementation strategies and parent education tools. 

 

Palliative Care Education ($6,725). To send care team to conferences and seminars to support development of palliative care programs across care settings and develop core competencies in difficult care conversations and symptom management.

 

Facing the Challenges of Educating a Neonatal Care Team ($6,613). To support enhanced neonatal simulation and training program for fellows, advanced practitioners and transport staff from the Newborn Intensive Care Unit.

 

TeamSTEPPS Training for the Operating Room ($5,500).  To support delivery of TeamSTEPPS, an evidence-based framework to optimize team performance across the healthcare delivery system, to Operating Room staff.

 

Medical Grand Rounds and Specialty-Targeted Education ($4,500). To provide continuing medical education in critical practice areas, increase awareness of Meriter goals and initiatives to improve patient safety and patient outcomes.

 

Stepping On Fall Prevention Community Class ($4,326). To deliver Stepping On to Dane County older adults, an evidence-based, seven-week fall prevention program emphasizing behavioral change.  The program addresses lower extremity strength and balance, home and community hazards, encouragement of visual screening to assess for low vision, and avoidance of medications with fall risks.

 

PEOPLE Partnership: Career Exploration and Simulation Experience for Pre-college Students ($4,320). To support simulation experiences at the Center for Health Education and Simulation for middle school and high school students through PEOPLE, a summer enrichment program at UW for students of color and low-income students. 

 

CGRN Certification for Gastroenterology Nurses ($3,720). To support CGRN certification for six nurses in Digestive Health. 

 

Madison Charrette ($3,000). To support discussions around community plan to end homelessness. 

 

Geriatric Pelvic Floor Rehab Training for Home Health Therapy ($1,725).  To develop an incontinence rehab program for 40 home health therapy staff.

 

Certification study materials and Exam Fees for Sterile Processing Professionals ($1,125).  To support certification efforts for nine sterile processors.

 

RESEARCH

 

Multifetal Gestation Pregnancies, Fetal Kidney Dysfunction and Programming of Life-Long BP ($30,000).   To study how fetal kidneys in twin or multiples adapt to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).  IUGR babies are at risk for a many adult onset diseases, including low and high renin primary hypertension and shortened life span.

 

Impact of Common neonatal drugs on Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Lung Alveolar Cells ($30,000).  To investigate the effects on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of dexamethasone and caffeine, two commonly prescribed medications in the NICU used to minimize chronic lung disease (CLD) in premature infants.

 

Effect of Oxytocin on Retina Angiogenesis as a Measure of ROP ($30,000).  To test the hypothesis that oxytocin controls retinal blood vessel development such that its deprivation in premature babies predisposes them to Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP).

 

Procalcitonin as a Biomarker in Detection of Early Onset Neonatal Sepsis Using Umbilical Cord Blood Analysis ($30,000).  To study plasma procalcitonin as a marker for early onset sepsis in neonates admitted to Meriter NICU with presumed sepsis.

 

Translational Studies of Therapeutics for Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy ($20,400).  To support additional pre-clinical studies of therapeutics in familial dilated cardiomyopathy, one of five medical centers participating in the trial. 

PILOT PROGRAMS

 

Community Paramedic Pilot Study ($50,000).  To initiate a community paramedic program in partnership with the City of Madison Fire Dept. to manage complex Meriter patients in the home with a goal of reducing preventable ED visits and hospital admissions.

 

Take One Tablet ($50,000).  To pilot a remote patient monitoring system for heart failure patients discharged from Meriter Hospital in order to improve patient self-care behaviors and reduce readmissions.

 

An Educational Approach to Emotional Intelligence:  How to increase Emotional IQ and Resilience while decreasing Burnout in Physicians ($42,300).  To determine the efficacy of a CME-style training activity as a method of increasing Emotional IQ, Resiliency and reducing Burnout among employed physicians of UnityPoint Clinic.

 

NICQ Next Collaborative ($25,000).  To participate in collaborative efforts to reduce death or morbidity among micro premature infants during the first 72 hours with a focus on best practices to reduce brain injury. 

 

Prevention of Post-operative Nausea and Vomiting Using Aromatherapy ($972).  To evaluate the effectiveness of aromatherapy in the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting.