CHCS Perspectives Winter 2014

PERSPECTIVES • WINTER 2014 – Page 14 NSU OVERVIEW: HPD Researcher’s Fall Prevention Patent... Bottlenose Dolphin Research... Administrative Changes... and More HPD Researcher Receives U.S. Patent for Developing Fall Prevention Model In an effort to prevent unnecessary injuries and deaths due to falls, Patrick Hardigan, Ph.D., associate professor of public health and HPD executive director for research, set out to develop a model used to help predict the effect of medication and dosage on injurious falling. He recently received a U.S. patent (No. 8,521,490) for an algorithm he developed called the Sta- tistical Model for Predicting Falling in Hu- mans, also known as the Fall Model. The Fall Model uses a robust amount of unidentified patient information from the state of Florida and other public sources such as height, weight, and age combined with each respective patient’s clinical diagnosis and prescription med- ication regimen to determine the patient’s likelihood of falling. The result is a likely or not likely determination. This model will eventually be comput- erized in an easy-to-use template for use in health care settings, including hospi- tals, pharmacies, nursing homes, and clinics. This computerized application will provide individual risk profiles for falling that will enable health professionals to im- plement personalized fall prevention strategies. Providers will be able to enter patient data to determine if alternate drugs should be prescribed or dosages altered, and/or whether a patient should be under stricter observation or undergo physical therapy or other form of preven- tative measure to reduce the risk of the patient falling. Marcella M. Rutherford, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.S.N., dean of the College of Nursing, has been named one of just 20 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellows for 2013. Dr. Rutherford joins a select group of nurse leaders from across the country chosen to partic- ipate in this world-class, three-year leadership develop- ment program designed to enhance nurse leaders’ effectiveness in improving the U.S. health care system. Begun by the RWJF in 1998, the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program strengthens the leadership capac- ity of nurses who aspire to shape health care in their com- munities, states, and nationally. The program will provide Dr. Rutherford and her colleagues with coaching, educa- tion, and other support to strengthen their abilities to lead teams and organizations working to improve health and health care. Dr. Patrick Hardigan Nursing Dean Selected for Prestigious National Nurse Fellowship