USF College of Nursing to Join Public and Private Health Sectors to Support Million Hearts Initiative
The University of South Florida College of Nursing is partnering with organizations and universities across the country to join the National Interprofessional Education and Practice Consortium to Advance Million Hearts to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes in the United States by 2017 through the Million Hearts initiative.
Million Hearts, a public-private initiative launched by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 2011, focuses on improving care for people suffering from heart disease through the “ABCS” method. ABCS is a technique that addresses the major risk factors of cardiovascular disease and helps prevent heart attacks and strokes.
The ABCS method stands for:
- Aspirin for people at risk
- Blood pressure control
- Cholesterol management
- Smoking cessation
USF College of Nursing, under the leadership of Assistant Professor and Concentration Director for Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) at the College, Debra A. Friedrich, DNP, ARNP, FNP-C, CLS, FNLA, is joining the initiative to educate and train nursing students to empower ten patients to make healthy choices utilizing the ABCS. To accomplish this goal, the students will complete a four-hour Million Hearts educational module, which is available online and free of charge.
Debra A. Friedrich, DNP, ARNP, FNP-C, CLS, FNLA, Assistant Professor and Concentration Director FNP
“Upon completion, each student will login in the educational module and enter data on the ten people for whom they conducted Million Hearts screening and/or education for, so they can track the number of people the College has reached through our efforts,” Dr. Friedrich said. “This module is intended to help students learn about how they can impact the population suffering from the disease through Million Hearts and assist the Department of HHS in preventing one million heart attacks and strokes by 2017.”
Check out Dr. Friedrich in the video below where she explains details on the innitiative, which can also be seen on the official USF College of Nursing YouTube Channel.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt8qhkv1diQ&feature=share&list=PL6AC3213B7CE72CED[/youtube]
Dr. Friedrich said by having the students enter anonymous and basic information about the individuals they will screen or educate will allow USF College of Nursing to document the outcomes achieved through this initiative.
According to HHS, there are more than two million heart attacks and strokes in the United States, and more than 2,000 deaths from the disease each year. Cardiovascular disease is responsible for one in every three deaths every year, and takes up 70 percent of the national healthcare spending, the HHS website states.
“Our goal here at USF College of Nursing is to help improve care for people who do need treatment by encouraging a targeted focus on “ABCSs,” Dr. Friedrich said. “This is an outstanding service learning project for students and could be built into a course requirement to teach them about how to improve population health through Million Hearts. Those goals are audacious, but they are achievable through the actions of powerful partnerships. By working together, focused on a common goal, Million Hearts partnerships are taking on the nation’s number one killer and leading the way to a heart-healthy America.”
To learn about Million Hearts initiative visit millionhearts.hhs.gov. To learn about the Educational Module click here.
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