You've chosen the field of heart failure - the HFA is here to help you make the most of it!
The HFA grant offers 24,000 euros for 1 year in a host institution.
2012 deadline for applications: 30 October
Nurse Fellowship winner 2011 - Ineke Lokker (NL)
Ineke Lokker will move to Cape Town, South Africa for a period of six months. At the department of Cardiology of Groote Schuur Hospital (GSH) she will work on a prospective study into symptoms (symptom prevalence and symptom burden) in patients with NYHA grade III/IV heart failure.
Heart failure is a chronic progressive disease associated with high morbidity and mortality. Unlike most cardiovascular diseases, heart failure is becoming more common. Frequent causes of heart failure include hypertension and ischemic heart disease. Another condition that potentially can lead to heart failure is rheumatic heart disease. This cause of heart failure is mainly restricted to developing parts of the world, including Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Africa and is most prevalent in children and young adult. As a result of this patients with heart failure in SSA are younger than patients in the developed parts of the world.
Multiple studies have shown that heart failure can have a large impact on the health status and quality of life of patients, which can be directly contributed to their symptom burden (e.g., fatigue, shortness of breath, depression) and functional limitations. However these studies have all been performed in developed countries and therefore it remains unclear whether patients with heart failure in developing parts of the world experience the same symptoms and functional limitations.
To be able to deliver good health care it is essential to have knowledge about the specific symptoms that occur during a specific disease or disease phase and their effect on patients. Therefore the aim of this study is to measure the prevalence and associated burden of physical and psychological symptoms, among patients with NYHA grade III/IV heart failure at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
This study into symptom prevalence and palliative care-related problems in patients with heart failure grade III/IV will be the first study in this field performed outside high income regions/countries of the world.
See who won in 2010
| Develop your academic skills |
Build a network aiming at joint publications |
Start a collaborative research project with the host institution |
Complete a research exchange with a heart failure care research group |
Download the Rules for HFA Nurse Training Fellowship 2011
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The applicant has to have a nursing degree and a master degree.
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It is particularly important to demonstrate what added value would be derived through the Nurse Training Fellowship as compared to undertaking similar training in the home institution or country.
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Applicants are advised to ensure that the research proposal demonstrates novelty and clear evidence of the research training component.
Application is open to any European resident or citizen, including those from countries considered as “Associates of the EU”. You do not have to be a HFA member.Please note that applications cannot be considered from individuals who are already based at the institution where it is proposed to hold the Training Fellowship.
Nurse Fellowship winner 2010 - Nina Kolbe (Germany)
Ms Kolbe will move to Linkoping University in Sweden. Her research topic is ‘Sex counselling for patients with heart failure: developing a practical and valid method for daily practise’.
Project description: patients with heart failure often worry about resuming sexual activity and are in need of education and counselling regarding this issue. Nurses have an important role in helping the patient to adapt their lives and learn to live with the consequences of heart failure, so nurses although have to discuss patients sexual concerns.
Because in Germany there is a lack of knowledge concerning the topic, whether nurses counsel patients with heart failure in sexual concerns or not, the first aim of this study will be to identify following topics: the prevalence of communication about sexual matters between nurses and patients and, if they do not talk about, why they do not talk about. Expand on this work we will improve the future education of nurses caring for heart failure patients in developing a practical but valid and acceptable tool to assess sexual concerns of heart failure patients in daily practice.
A cross-sectional research design will be utilized to study aim 1. A translated and adapted version of the nurses´ survey of sexual counselling of MI patients will be administered to heart failure nurses and nurses working at a cardiological ward. The data will be entered to SPSS 17.0 and descriptively analyzed. Secondly an instrument development approach will be used to develop the assessment tool.
For heart failure nurse training programme, please see this link: Curriculum