Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation (NPHF) Announces 2012 “Promoting Heart Health Across the Age Span Award” Winners

Bellevue, WA (June 19, 2012) – The Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation (NPHF) is pleased to announce the recipients of the NPHF/Astellas Promoting Heart Health Across the Age Span Awards, designed to further service, education and research in the area of cardiovascular health.  Three awards of $3,500 each were given to practicing nurse practitioners and students for their projects. 

“Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the U.S., and we can do something about that,” said Phyllis Zimmer, President, NPHF.  “By making better lifestyle choices, we can eliminate or lower risk factors for heart disease and achieve healthier lives.” 

The NPHF/Astellas "Promoting Heart Health Across the Age Span" Program reflects the need to improve cardiovascular health at all ages – in children, adults, and older adults. Thus, one award is given in each of these age categories.  The criteria for support were based on promoting heart health, and the focus of the project could be service (direct services to the target age group), education (educational health interventions), or research (studies of outcomes or effectiveness of heart health-related activities in the age group).

Award Winners

Carolyn Montoya, RN, MSN, CPNP, PhD(c) (Albuquerque, NM) – Pediatric Award

Ms. Montoya is pursuing her PhD at the University of New Mexico College of Nursing in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  She is the Academic Program Director for the Advanced Practice Concentrations and Coordinator of the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Concentration at that institution.  Ms. Montoya is a nationally certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner who maintains a clinical practice at Pediatric Services in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  She is a Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Health Policy Fellow in the RWJ Foundation and Nursing and Health Policy Collaborative at the University of New Mexico.  The NPHF/Astellas Heart Health Across the Age Span award will provide support for Ms. Montoya’s research in determining if children ages 8-11 have an accurate perception of their weight and if there are differences between Caucasian and Hispanic children’s perceptions.

Beth Whittaker, FNP, DNP (Seattle, WA) – Adult Award

Ms. Whittaker recently completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.  She has worked as a Registered Nurse on the Medical-Surgical/Transplant Intensive Care Unit at the University of Washington Medical Center.  Ms. Whittaker is currently a member of the Heart Failure Committee at the University of Washington Medical Center.  This award funded her capstone project identifying factors associated with 30-day heart failure readmission at the University of Washington Medical Center.  The outcomes of the study led to the development of recommendations for care to reduce readmissions.

Lufei Young, PhD, APRN (Omaha, NE) – Geriatric Award

Dr. Young is an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and an assistant professor at the College of Nursing – Lincoln Division at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.  She practiced as a primary care physician in the People’s Republic of China before coming to the United States in 2000.  This award will help fund Dr. Young’s research to develop strategies to improve medication safety and quality of care during care transitions in rural communities through an ANP-managed medication reconciliation program.  This research will evaluate the impact and feasibility of the program on medication discrepancies and healthcare use in elderly patients with heart disease discharged from a rural critical access hospital.