Research May Help Critically Ill Patients

Hanneman appointed to new Jerold B. Katz Distinguished Professorship for Nursing Research

When the Katz family endowed the Jerold B. Katz Distinguished Professorship for Nursing Research, the intent simply was to help advance patient care. When Sandra K. Hanneman, Ph.D., was selected for the endowed position, her purpose was to make that intent a reality.

Sandra K. Hanneman, Ph.D., was selected as the first Jerold B. Katz Distinguished Professor for Nursing Research at the UT School of Nursing at Houston because of her research experience with critically ill patients.

Photo by Erika E. Durham

Hanneman, associate dean for research at The University of Texas School of Nursing, was chosen for the professorship in the fall of 2004. That decision was based on her experience in intensive care units and with critically ill patients.

Hanneman sees the $250,000 gift as one given in thoughtfulness and concern for human life. As the director of the new Center for Nursing Research, Hanneman said she appreciates the support of The Jerold B. Katz Foundation. She knows those dollars will be used to ensure a higher quality of care.

"We look forward to using the monies in the future to further our research efforts," Hanneman said. "We are truly honored by the gesture of support and commitment to the School of Nursing."

The gift was born of a desire from the Katz family to give back to the nurses who gave so much to Lenny Katz, who suffered severe head trauma in a car accident in 1988. He is the youngest son of Jerold B. Katz and Judith E. Katz.

Lenny Katz has been in a coma for more than 16 years and always has required daily nursing care. "Nurses are the quiet caregivers who have been there for my brother," said Evan Katz, Lenny's older brother, who now leads the family's foundation. "Nurses are there, day-in, day-out, providing care and comfort. They don't get a lot of credit but they sure do deserve it."

Evan Katz, who also is a member of the UT Health Science Center at Houston Development Board, said the family's decision to give was spurred by the crucial importance of laboratory research to advance the field of nursing.

I am enormously thankful for the Katz family’s endowment
to nursing research. I’m pleased that they can appreciate
what nursing and nursing research provide to health care.”

In addition to the Katz gift, Hanneman also has received funding from the National Institutes of Health for her research.

Hanneman's research encompasses how the conditions and care in the intensive care unit can impact the body's ability to stay in synch, to heal and to maintain life. More specifically, her studies look at ways to help patients attempt to breathe on their own, instead of becoming overly dependent on mechanical ventilation.

In addition to weaning dependent patients off ventilators, Hanneman said she focuses on ways to prevent ventilator dependency at the outset of a medical emergency or hospital procedure. She said the first 72 hours are the most critical. During this time, strides should be made to allow patients to breathe on their own.

It is well-known that a multitude of complications can follow after the first 72 hours, she said. Hanneman's research looks into how the ICU affects a patient's circadian rhythms, which are the rhythms that guide the body's physiological or behavioral responses to daily life and to illness and injury.

Through this research, she hopes to facilitate the reestablishment of the School of Nursing's "Pig ICU," which existed before Tropical Storm Allison brought destructive flooding to the entire medical center. In the "Pig ICU," nursing students and other health care providers and students have a hands-on opportunity to make discoveries that could someday improve the quality of life for ill humans such as Lenny Katz.

Hanneman said ultimately this is an opportunity to break new ground in furthering the quality of care for patients.

"I am enormously thankful for the Katz family's endowment to nursing research," she said. "I'm pleased that they can appreciate what nursing and nursing research provide to health care."

By Erika E. Durham, Public Affairs