The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing and Nebraska
Health System will host Lois Evans, D.N.Sc., as its Visiting Nurse Scholar,
Oct. 14 and 15. Dr. Evans, of the University of Pennsylvania School of
Nursing, is one of the nation’s foremost researchers in the care of the
elderly.
Dr. Evans conducted research on reducing the use of restraints on frail
elders in the nation’s nursing homes and hospitals, ultimately developing
a new model of individual care for frail elders to reduce the use of physical
restraints in nursing homes and hospitals. The work has brought international
attention to the problems of frail elders in nursing homes and hospitals
and has been influential in setting clear standards and policy for care.
She and her colleagues were the first to carry out a systematic, randomized
trial to reduce restraints in nursing homes. Findings have influenced the
care of older people not only at the bedside but at the policy level as
well.
The research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging,
the Commonwealth Fund, and the Alzheimer’s Association and honored by the
Gerontological Society of America (GSA) with its prestigious Doris Schwartz
Gerontological Nursing Research Award.
During her visit, Dr. Evans will consult with, and make presentations
to UNMC and NHS faculty, staff and students, as well as to members of the
health care community following a community reception in her honor. She
will present a lecture, Building an evidence base for individualized restraint-free
care, on Oct. 15 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the UNMC College of Nursing,
room 2018. It also will be broadcast live to: Lincoln, Teachers College,
Room 202; College of Nursing Kearney Division, Room 144W; and the College
of Nursing West Nebraska Division, Room 205.
The vital importance of gerontologic and geropsychiatric nursing for
an aging society is underscored by rapidly shifting demographics, both
nationally and globally, said Dr. Evans. Development of knowledge that
will help to provide individualized care to the most vulnerable among older
adults, especially those with
dementia, is crucial. Our research on clinical problems of frail elders
is contributing to assuring quality of life for this high risk population.
Dr. Evans said nearly 40 percent of elders in nursing homes were physically
restrained everyday in 1986. Today, restraints are used far less, partly
because of benchmark studies of Dr. Evans and her colleagues to reduce
the use of physical restraints.
Through the research, Dr. Evans repeatedly demonstrated that physical
restraints, intended to keep frail elders from harm, do not protect patients
from falling, wandering, or removing tubes or dressings. On the contrary,
physical restraints may actually cause serious injuries and emotional and
physical problems, Dr. Evans said.
The research helped replace the use of physical restraints with educational
programs and consultation by advanced practice nurses, who promote using
individualized, restraint-free care without increased staff, psychotropic
drug use, or patient injuries.
A fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, Dr. Evans serves as co-director
for the John A. Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, the Center
for Gerontologic Nursing Science, and the Delaware Valley Geriatric Education
Center. She is president of the Association of Women Faculty and Administrators
at Penn, and Chair-Elect of the Clinical Medicine Section of the Gerontological
Society of America.
Together with her colleague, Neville Strumpf, Ph.D., she has received
numerous awards for her research including the prestigious Baxter Episteme
Award from Sigma Theta Tau International, and the Maes MacInnis Award.