February 22, 2023 | Office of the President & Chief Research Officer

Dear Teammates,

I am delighted to share with you the inspiring stories of two nurse-physician partnerships that are having a remarkable impact on patient care. It’s impressive to see what can be achieved when individuals with diverse perspectives and skills unite to tackle complex bedside challenges, improving the care of our most vulnerable patients through a research mindset.

First, I would like to bring attention to the partnership of pediatric nurse practitioner Jacquie Toia, DNP, APRN, and attending physician Sameer Patel, MD. Their collaboration in infectious disease research resulted from Jacquie’s extensive experience working with complex patients and their families at the end of life, where challenging discussions and decisions are made about medical choices. Specifically, their collaboration tackles questions about how to discuss, advise, and optimize antibiotic use at the end of life. The effectiveness of the partnership comes from Jacquie’s experience with this special patient population and Sameer’s expertise in finessing analytical approaches in research on antibiotic utilization. Today, their insights shape how the hospital’s infectious diseases team determines antibiotic use and emphasizes the importance of recognizing family and patient viewpoints and including them in the conversation. For Sameer, Jacquie’s attention to this challenging and vital research topic reflects her years of experience in the field, while for Jacquie, Sameer’s attention to and interest in nursing work was crucial for bringing the project to fruition.

Next, let me highlight a successful collaboration between Lauren Sorce, PhD, APRN-NP, the Founders Board Nurse Scientist, and Kelly Michelson, MD, MPH, attending physician in critical care and the Julia and David Uihlein Professor of Bioethics and Medical Humanities. Their partnership blends their unique perspectives and expertise. Lauren brings her clinical trial experience in the critical care setting and nurse professional development expertise, while Kelly contributes her career-long experience conducting quantitative and qualitative clinical research. Both Lauren and Kelly recognize that successful research in clinical care requires the input and perspectives of everyone involved in patient care. Their interdisciplinary and collaborative approach has produced multiple outcomes that have improved the care of children in the ICU. One example of their collaboration is a study that demonstrated how nurses using a sedation algorithm could safely manage the sedation of children on ventilators and reduce the overall amount of sedation required in some cases. The investigator pair also focuses on support interventions to help patients, families, and care teams navigate complex communications and decision-making in the ICU environment. Furthermore, they work to overcome barriers to pediatric critical research, such as the complex issues with biospecimen collection, banking, and utilization.

The shared respect these individuals have for one another is palpable and is reflected in their partnerships. Their creative and leading-edge contributions to the care of children remind us to seek out opportunities to collaborate across our roles, specialties, and disciplines. In the halls of the hospital, the labs of the research center, and our communities, we must endeavor to support the curiosity of our teammates and recognize the value of different perspectives to design better interventions, solutions, and treatments.

With kindness and respect,

Pat