Nurses' Competence Caring for Hospitalized Patients With Ventricular Assist Devices.

Jesus M Casida¹, Martha Abshire, Brian Widmar+3

• ¹Jesus M. Casida, PhD, RN, APN-C, is a faculty associate at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. His program of research focuses on the self-management of patients with VADs. Martha Abshire, PhD, RN, is an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland. Her research focuses on improving psychosocial outcomes for patients and caregivers managing advanced heart failure. Brian Widmar, PhD, RN, ACNP-BC, is assistant professor and director of the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Nashville, Tennessee. He is also an acute care nurse practitioner in the Heart Transplant Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Pamela Combs, PhD, RN, is internationally known for her leadership and expertise in the management of patients with VADs. Currently, she is clinical research nurse at the University of Chicago's Department of Cardiac Surgery, Illinois. Regi Freeman, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, is a board-certified adult health clinical nurse specialist in the cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU) at Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor. The CVICU is a 32-bed high-acuity intensive care unit caring for complex surgical procedures, mechanical circulatory support, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Ms Freeman has published multiple articles and also presented nationally. Linda Baas, PhD, RN, is professor emeritus at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing, Ohio. She served as president of the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses in 2012-2013.