CARE at the UW-Madison School of Nursing
“As a caregiver, I can speak to the fact that life is intense,” says Traci Edmondson. Edmondson is the dementia care specialist for Calumet and Outagamie counties in Wisconsin. She also cared for her husband while he was living with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. “You are always on. You are always caregiving,” she says. “You don’t …
The following is an excerpt from the “Planning for your hospital” section of the Dementia Friendly Hospital Toolkit developed by CARE and clinical and research faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing. As we developed CARE’s Dementia Friendly Hospital Toolkit, we learned from two Wisconsin hospitals with their own dementia friendly initiatives: the …
In June 2020, University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing graduate student Courtney Maurer, DNP, RN was coming up with ideas for her year-long scholarly project. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, student access to care settings was far from guaranteed. Maurer wanted to make sure that she could carry out her project and produce something that …
Nearly all of us want to stay in our home as we age. There are benefits to doing so. Our family and friends are more likely to be nearby. We know where to find our favorite activities. After years of appointments, our health care providers can more easily notice changes and anticipate needs. It often …
Dwayne Dobschuetz, APRN, Geriatric Nurse Practitioner at Northwestern Medicine and University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing alumnus, remembers the day his career changed. He had worked in Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s emergency department for nearly 20 years, and had recently joined three other nurses there in focusing on older patients’ needs. “The physician who headed the …
Ask any long-term care nurse or administrator. They all want to improve recruitment and retention of nursing staff. They understand that lower staff turnover rates lead to better care at lower costs. It’s not that long-term care organizations don’t want to support their nursing staff in their professional growth. It’s that many organizations struggle to …
In complex situations, new policies can have unpredictable effects. For example, some hospital safety measures can make older adults more likely to fall. “Falls are increasingly being used to judge quality of care in our hospitals, particularly for older adult patients,” says Barb King, PhD, RN, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School …
Decisions about medical treatments towards the end of life are often difficult. Patients may be in pain as they and their family members struggle to understand options and come to agreement. Poor decisions may unintentionally reduce quality of life for very ill people. As an ICU nurse and researcher, Kristen Pecanac, PhD, RN is familiar …
“I work at a nursing home, so I see people coming in at all different ages,” says Kayla Olmstead, MS, a registered dietician who works in Wisconsin’s Chippewa and Barron Counties. “With some people, you can see the effects of poor nutrition over time. So if you can get to people before they’re that sick, …
Overall, fewer than half of U.S. adults gets enough physical activity, according to federal guidelines. For African Americans, the numbers are even lower. That makes healthy aging especially challenging. “Less than 25 percent of older African Americans meet recommended levels of physical activity,” says Wan-Chin Kuo, a PhD student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School …