Nancy Olsen Bailey applies gel to the acoustic probe of the Valve Position Verification programmer.?
Nancy Olsen Bailey, RN, MBA, ambulatory staff nurse in the Department of Neurosurgery, has seen the evolution of care for patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a little known disorder characterized by accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain.
For the past 22 years, she has cared for these patients through various positions as a nurse in the Neurosciences. Earlier this fall, she became part of that evolution as she led a clinical trial that promises to make her patients’ lives a little easier.
Working with Chief of Neurosurgery Peter Black, MD, PhD, Olsen Bailey as study coordinator, enrolled 80 BWH patients in a clinical trial of the Valve Position Verification (VPV), a device that programs and acoustically confirms the shunt pressures of patients with programmable valve shunts and reduces reliance on x-rays. Patients with this type of shunt have brain tumors or hydrocephalus and need the shunt to drain excess fluid from the brain. Without treatment, the fluid causes impairments in memory, bladder control and walking abilities.
The FDA approved the VPV in October following the 18-month clinical trial. BWH enrolled the most patients of the six facilities that participated in the trial.
“By using the VPV, we can get patients home from their appointments more quickly, and they get to do the things they’d rather do than be at the doctor’s office,” Olsen Bailey explained.
Previously, when patients reported to the clinic to have the shunt valve reprogrammed, they needed a head x-ray to confirm the setting was correct. If the x-ray showed it was not correct, the patient would have the shunt valve readjusted and another x-ray, which amounted to increased waiting time and exposure to radiation.
The VPV eliminates the need for x-ray by confirming the setting is correct right in the treatment room. This translates to improved patient safety, increased patient satisfaction and reduced cost to the health care system.
“Nancy’s work exemplifies the best in BWH nursing—a steady effort to improve patient care through careful research,” Black said. “She has been an exemplary study coordinator, fulfilling all IRB and FDA requirements while continuing to give remarkable attention to our patients. She is a spectacular nurse and, along with her colleague Donna Dello Iacono, RN, is an ongoing example of how good great nursing can be.”
Olsen Bailey’s efforts go a long way to improving quality of life for the approximately 500 BWH patients with reprogrammable valve shunts. “If you can help just one person, all of the effort you put forward is worthwhile,” she said.
Before joining BWH in 1991, Olsen Bailey was associate director of Nursing at Memorial Hospital of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and before that, held various positions at New England Medical Center, including nurse manager of the Neurological/Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit. She earned her MBA from Suffolk University and her BSN from Northeastern University.