Virginia "Ginger" Burggraf, the Marcella Griggs Distinguished Professor of Gerontological Nursing, has been awarded $140,000 from the Health Resources and Services Administration to continue her research on programs to meet the needs of older adults in Southwest Virginia by advancing the education of nurses. The award is the continuation of a grant Burggraf first received from the federal agency in 2002.
Burggraf and co-principal investigator Sarah Gilbert, a nursing instructor, will use the grant to continue their work with students at clinical sites across the New River and Roanoke valleys.
“We seek funding to better the lives of others,” Burggraf said. When writing grant requests, she said, she identifies with a 1997 report to President Clinton titled “Quality First: Better Health Care for All Americans.” The document’s introductory statement is, “The purpose of the health care system must be to continuously reduce the impact and burden of illness, injury and disability, and to improve the health functioning of the people of the United States.”
Gilbert said the grant makes it possible for groups of senior nursing students at Radford to complete clinical studies at long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, where they work with registered nurses who give direct services such as wound care to patients. The students’ skills are evaluated before and after the five-week course, and they keep records of their experiences working with older adults.
“We are making sure the next generation of nurses can do the job we need them to do for older adults,” Gilbert said.
The grant also covers administrative support and time for Gilbert to analyze data collected from the clinical sites and for publication of a textbook, “Healthy Aging: Clinical Guidelines for Advanced Practice Nurses.” Burggraf is the editor for the book, which will comprise chapters about the treatment of older adults by contributors with expertise in various areas of gerontology.
Burggraf is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), the highest honor that the organization gives to its members. She was recently appointed as the AAN’s representative to the board of Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes, a campaign by the American Health Care Association to improve care quality in nursing homes.
The Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable. It makes grants to academic institutions to support critical specialties such as nursing and to fund leadership development programs.
