Kathryn Keiper

I am currently a graduate student at Duke University, scheduled to graduate in August 2006. I am pursuing a Master's degree in Nursing Informatics under the guidance of Dr. Linda Goodwin. Some of the classes I have completed are Organizational Theories, Populations-Based Healthcare, Research Methods, Informatics Issues and Standards and Applied Informatics Theories, as well as participating in an ongoing Directed Research Project studying problem behaviors in nursing homes that lead to the use of behavioral and/or pharmacological strategies. I also completed a 120-hour residency with McKesson, planning for and implementing HEO (Horizon Expert Orders) and HED (Horizon Expert Documentation). Here are some examples of the projects and papers I have completed so far:

Research Proposal - a study proposed (but not carried out) to investigate the experiences and attitudes of critical care nurses about providing end-of-life care in the ICU setting

Health Information Technology Evaluation - I developed a data collection tool in HanDbase3 and used a PocketPC to conduct a survey of staff from IT, nursing, and pharmacy on their satisfaction with our automated medication dispensing cabinet; I then joined with two other class members to evaluate and compare three different cabinets at our respective hospitals - Group HIT Evaluation

Nursing Terminology Project - this project was intended to demonstrate the complexity of nursing terminology and how that impacts the development of information systems; a story was written based on patient care, terms were listed in Excel and then organized in MindManager in order to extract themes into higher level concepts

Issues Paper - a discussion of how self-management improves outcomes and quality of life for CHF patients, with emphasis on how IT solutions can promote and enhance self-management; patient trust and health literacy issues were also included

Diabetic Outcomes Evaluation database - an access database and users' manual I developed to help diabetic nurse educators track and evaluate a patient education program; this is currently being used at Pocono Medical Center