From winning project to practice

By Betsy Herron

Above: Professor Weeks works with 3rd semester student Mackenzie Ratliff in the skills lab.

In the spring of 2020, Professor Karen Weeks (‘19DNP) was awarded the JMU Graduate School Outstanding Dissertation Award for Social Sciences, Business, Health, and Behavioral Studies. This award recognizes exemplary contributions of a graduate student and celebrates the diversity of their work across the university. “Weeks’ doctoral project exemplifies the type of scholarship that creates an impact and is sustainable over time,” Jeannie Garber, JMU’s coordinator of the DNP program, said. “Karen Weeks represents the drive, initiative, and engagement of every faculty member in the School of Nursing.”

Weeks joined the JMU School of Nursing as a clinical instructor in 2015. With her vast experience in critical care nursing, she quickly became a valued educator within the school. Setting the bar high in the classroom, her teaching style incorporates both a high level of positive energy and wit that makes her incredibly engaging and likeable to students. According to nursing alumna Tiffany Boyd (’19), “Weeks has a passion for sepsis, which is a life-threatening

condition. Due to her thorough teaching, I was able to catch a patient going into early septic shock and get him the interventions he needed.“

In fact, Weeks’ passion for interventions to improve patient outcomes related to sepsis and heart failure led her to the focus of her DNP project. “One of the needs identified at the hospital where I chose to do my project was improving their readmission rates. I worked closely with my DNP committee to create a system for ‘navigating’ the discharge process and assessing the needs of the patients being sent home after being hospitalized with sepsis or heart failure,” Weeks said. “This project added to the body of knowledge for comprehensive discharge planning, coordination and education that is needed for populations that have a great deal of medical complexity with a potential for a staggering cost avoidance. Targeting the high-risk populations like heart failure and sepsis can not only assist the patients and families in day to day management and reduce admissions to the hospital, but empower the patient and family leading to an increased quality of life and patient satisfaction.”

In December 2019, Weeks completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at JMU with her project entitled Implementing a Discharge Navigator Reducing 30-day Readmissions for Heart Failure and Sepsis Populations. While developing this project, she spent countless hours at Sentara Rockingham Memorial Hospital (SRMH) reviewing patient data to identify those at highest risk of returning to the hospital post discharge. Once identified, Weeks then spent time planning, coordinating and educating patients on methods for managing day to day care of their chronic illness, minimizing exacerbations and when to call their primary care provider. Debbie Kile (‘17DNP), Weeks’ doctoral mentor said, “Karen did an amazing job connecting with families, bedside nurses and patients. As a result of her work, Sentara Rockingham Memorial Hospital hired a full-time heart failure navigator.” SRMH continues to employ a full-time discharge heart failure navigator with great improvement in patient outcomes, a credit to Weeks’ tremendous dedication to improving patient care.

Weeks’ manuscript has been accepted for publication by Professional Case Management Journal.