primary care nurses, nursing care beyond the ... - School of Nursing

leadershipNursing leader helpsmagnet programpromote excellenceA visionary nursing leader,Patricia R. Messmer hasmade a positive impact on theprofession by demonstrating,through example, the relationshipof research to educationand nursing practice.For more than 20 years,Messmer (PhD ’88, BSN ’67),FAAN, has been interestedin the American NursesCredentialing Center (ANCC)Magnet Recognition Program.The program recognizeshealth care organizations thatprovide excellent nursing careand uphold professional traditions.When Messmer was thedirector of nursing research atMount Sinai Medical Centerin Miami Beach, Fla.,she alsoserved as the magnet projectdirector and guided the centerto magnet status. Messmerbecame a magnet appraiser forthe ANCC Magnet recognition,which is considered thestandard for quality patientcare. Messmer continued toserve in this role when shebecame the nurse researcherfor Miami Children’s Hospital.As Messmer describes it,ANCC evolved the role of thenurse researcher in a clinicalsetting and sees clinical needas the driving force behindnursing research. Although thenurse’s program of researchThe program recognizeshealth care organizationsthat provide excellentnursing care and upholdprofessional traditions.sometimes must move tothe back burner in a clinicalsetting, the resulting researchis more likely to have practicalapplications and can be moreeasily transferred toa real-world setting.About a year ago,Messmer left Miami tobecome the director of patientcare services research atChildren’s Mercy Hospitalsand Clinics in KansasCity, Mo. In that capacity,she oversees all researchprojects related to patientcare for nurses, allied healthprofessionals, social workers,and pharmacists. Onestudy involves neonatalunit patient simulation.“We’re going to look atbuilding team collaborationbetweennursing staff,nurse practitioners,the medical staff,and respiratorytherapists,” she says.Messmer also worked onan ambitious project designedto identify all 950+ AmericanNurses Foundation (ANF)nursing research grant scholarsfrom the past 54 years. Thecharitable and philanthropicarm of the American NursesAssociation (ANA), ANF supportsANA’s work to promotethe welfare and well-being ofnurses, advance the nursingprofession, and enhance publichealth. Messmer, ANF treasurer,initiated the project in2004 with the help of FloridaInternational Universitydoctoralstudent CraigPhillips (ANFgrant recipient,currently anassistant professor atthe University of BritishColumbia) and MargareteZalon, ANF president.“Looking at the list ofscholars shows how ANFfunding enabled them tostart and develop their owncareers,” she says. “Researchconducted by ANF scholarshas advanced the professionby facilitating knowledgedevelopment across the broadspectrum of nursing.”Pitt Nurse spring 2009 17