“Nurses are intimately familiar with best practices for patient care, so they bring a unique, patient- and family-centered perspective to research,” says Kari Mastro, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, Director of Professional Practice, Innovation, and Research at Princeton Medical Center. “By collaborating with various disciplines, examining data retrospectively, and measuring outcomes moving forward, we’re putting structure and evidence behind our protocols.”
In the case of the diabetes protocol, the team examined how the treatment of two distinct conditions—eating disorders and type 1 diabetes—might be best approached when paired together. In the coming year, the team will collect outcomes data on measures ranging from glucose control to patient confidence in self-care, with the intent to fine-tune the protocol and disseminate findings on a national level.