Research Team

Marianne Weiss, D.N.Sc., RN, Professor, Nursing, Marquette University, is the principal investigator for the READI  study. Dr. Weiss has previously served as the Principal Investigator for several studies of patient perceptions of discharge teaching, readiness for hospital discharge, and readmission, including the team’s study on nurse staffing, discharge preparation, and post-discharge utilization which was funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative. She has developed and tested the RHDS and other instruments related to discharge preparation and the discharge transition across patient populations. The results have been disseminated widely through presentations and publications, and scales have been used by numerous researchers nationally and internationally.

Olga Yakusheva, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Michigan, is co-investigator for the READI study. She is a health economist with expertise in health services research, study design, econometrics, data analysis methods including causal modeling, and cost-benefit evaluations. Dr. Yakusheva’s research focuses on nursing workforce and performance issues and patient outcomes in acute care settings. She was Co-PI for the team’s INQRI project and has been involved as a PI on two projects under the Future of Nursing initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Kathleen Bobay, Ph.D., RN, NEA-BC, Professor, School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago, is co-investigator for the READI study. With research and clinical expertise is in nursing and health systems, she is leading the research teams efforts related to collecting hospital and unit level data on nurse staffing for the study’s multi-level analytic model. Dr. Bobay was a Co-PI on the team’s INQRI project. In addition to the READI study, Dr. Bobay is leading team efforts in the area of Quality of Discharge Teaching research.

Ronda Hughes, Ph.D., M.H.S., RN, CLNC, FAAN, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of South Carolina is a co-investigator for the READI study. With expertise in health services research with large database analysis and in health policy, Dr. Hughes is leading the teams efforts in developing the study database infrastructure, securing data transfer from participating hospitals, and managing the study data set.

Linda Costa, Ph.D., RN, NEA-BC, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, University of Maryland is a co-investigator for the READI study. She has previously collaborated with the research team on a study to compare the nurse and patient short forms of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale and their relationships to post-discharge readmissions and ED visits, one of the foundational studies to the READI project. Dr. Costa has leadership experience as both a nurse administrator (VP for Nursing Services) and as a Principal Investigator on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative funded study related to medication reconciliation.  Dr. Costa has primary responsibility for the implementation evaluation model for the READI study.

Expert Consultants

Mary Blegen, RN, Ph.D., FAAN, Professor Emerita, University of California, San Francisco, will provide expert consultation on research design issues with multisite studies and analysis of nursing process and outcome data from multiple sites and sources. Dr. Blegen has a long and distinguished career as a nursing services researcher whose emphasis has been on nursing care quality. She will provide expertise in both the design and analytic models for investigating the relationships of nursing process to patient outcomes.

Douglas R. Wholey, Ph.D., Professor, Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, will provide expertise on measurement of implementation processes including fidelity of the unit-level implementation protocols for the study. His background in organizational theory and research related to the implementation of innovative health care services designs will be invaluable to this unit-level implementation study. He will provide consultation throughout the study to design, refine, and document effective implementation processes.