RESEARCH

Community Grants for Research ProjectsBetty Easter, RN, CPAN, Guest Columnist

AS PERIANESTHESIA NURSES, we use critical thinking

skills daily in assessing and providing appropriate care to

our patients. ‘‘Thinking outside the box’’ becomes a norm

in our environment as we assess, develop, and implement

a plan of care in an efficient, timely manner. During my

41 years of nursing practice, I have routinely used non-

pharmacological interventions such as repositioning,warm blankets, dimmed lights, soft voice, light touch,

and imagery to improve patient comfort.

Because of the noise level in our open, 12-bay PACU, our

Shared Governance Committee requested a ‘‘talk light’’

from the hospital foundation to determine the ongoing

levels of noise in our environment. This ‘‘talk light’’

changes from green to yellow or red depending on thenoise level. It serves as a visible reminder to keep nones-

sential conversation to a minimum, thus improving the

environment for patients recovering from anesthesia.

Over the past several years, I have read with great interest

several research studies indicating that music serves as

a distraction, promotes a better sense of well-being, and

improves patient satisfaction. Being a proponent of otherforms of nonpharmacological interventions, I wanted to

provide music as a comfort modality to my patients.

Even though our Magnet hospital has a Director of

Research and Evidence-Based Practice, nursing research

on a unit-based level is encouraged and supported. With

this in mind, our department set forth to research the

impact of music on the PACU patient’s perception of dis-comfort. As we developed the design and methodology of

our project, the issue arose of how to acquire the needed

CD headsets and chosen genres of music.

Because I regularly frequent our local Wal-Mart, I noticed the

large banner stating ‘‘Community Grant,’’ money that had

been given to local community projects. I decided to explore

Betty Easter, RN, CPAN, is a PACU staff nurse at Catawba Valley

Medical Center, Hickory, NC.

Address correspondence to Ms Betty Easter, PACU, Catawba Valley

Medical Center, 810 Fairgrove Church Road, Hickory, NC 28610;

e-mail address: beaster@catawbavalleymc.org.

� 2009 by American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses

1089-9472/09/2405-0013$36.00/0

doi:10.1016/j.jopan.2009.07.005

330

the process required to apply for a grant. Each Wal-Mart has

a designated employee who is responsible for the commu-

nity grant proposals. I obtained the necessary form at the

Customer Service Desk, completed the application with

the appropriate information, indicating the purpose of the

research project, what the money would be used for, how

it would impact residents in our community, and contact in-formation. The employee then forwarded the proposal to

the Wal-Mart Corporate Office for review, where grants are

awarded quarterly. Upon completion of the review process,

I was personally notified by phone that the proposal was

approved for a $500 community grant that could be spent

in-store for any items we needed for our research project.

Our grant provided personal CD players, assorted CDs of

various genres of music, storage cases, CD sleeves, etc.

This grant provided us the avenue to obtain the needed

items without any expenditure by our facility. In return,

we have placed signage in the Day Surgery Lobby and

each Preoperative Nurse Educator’s office that acknowl-

edges Wal-Mart for their donation of equipment so that

music is available to our postoperative patients in the

PACU. In addition, they were sent a letter of thanks, aswell as our specific research findings.

Target Corporation also has community grant funds avail-

able for programs related to the arts, childhood develop-

ment and reading, family safety, and domestic violence

issues. The online application for these grants can be

downloaded from http://www.target.com under the

‘‘Community’’ listing.

Office Depot’s Foundation provides funding for activities

that serve, teach, and inspire children, youth, and families

or serve the needs of local communities. An online eligi-

bility survey and grant application can be found on the

Grant Making Guidelines page at http://www.officede-

potfoundation.com. Applications are retrieved on

a monthly basis and are reviewed by a committee. Itmay take eight weeks after you submit your completed

application before you receive a response.

In addition, Lowes Home Improvement and Home De-

pot have limited funds available for community projects.

Access to their programs are also online, with specific

guidelines for eligibility listed.

Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, Vol 24, No 5 (October), 2009: pp 330-331

RESEARCH 331

Other resources may be available in your particular area.

Local businesses will often contribute items when asked

in exchange for acknowledgement or advertising.

Depending on your particular topic of research, you

may be able to acquire funding from these sources.

Errat

In the Continuing Education post test, ‘‘Unintentio

Nurses’’ (Volume 24, Issue 3, Page 176, June 2009), thswers must instead be submitted before June 30, 2011

During this time of budget constraints, it is important that

we continue to look for innovative ways to provide the best

care possible to our patients. Research and evidence-based

practice are the hallmarks of quality care, but nurses must

be proactive in choosing the path to achieve this goal.

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