*Correction attached.
The Nursing School received a $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study sedation management in critically ill children on ventilators.
It is the largest grant the school has ever received.
The study - which began earlier this month - aims to minimize recovery times of patients on ventilation tubes by tightly managing titration of sedatives. ,000 Nurses will use clinical judgment to determine optimal titration using a goal-directed comfort algorithm. Currently, physicians direct administration of sedatives.
The algorithm will ensure children do not remain on ventilators longer than necessary, reducing risks and health care costs.
"Too much sedation can actually prolong hospital stays by preventing the body from healing quickly and can cause health issues such as overdependence on medication," said associate Nursing professor Martha Curley, the study's principal investigator.
The study will involve more than 2,750 patients at 18 pediatric hospitals in the U.S. and Canada over a five-year period. Some sites will implement the new protocol, while others will continue current approaches to sedation titration.
The grant is co-funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and National Institute of Nursing Research of the NIH.
*An earlier version of this story said that the grant was for $10,000. The grant is actually for $10 million. Thanks to our commenters for pointing this out.
