A Day in the Life of an Academic Geriatric Nurse
Donald (Chip) Bailey, Jr., PhD, RN
Associate Professor
Duke University School of Nursing
Durham, North Carolina
Claire M. Fagin Post-doctoral Fellow 2003-2005
Research: Nursing interventions to improve quality of life in patients with serious chronic illnesses
The BAGNC Initiative aims to increase the number of academic geriatric nurses who possess the skills and enthusiasm to educate and inspire new generations of nursing students. Chip Bailey, Jr., PhD, RN, embodies that goal. He developed a course in geriatrics for baccalaureate nursing students at Duke University that was recognized by the John A. Hartford Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing as the best in the country in 2004. The course prepares students to provide the highest quality evidence-based care to older adults in long-term care settings and continuing care retirement communities.
Dr. Bailey speaking with Kristen Corazzini, PhD, Associate Professor at Duke University School of Nursing at Rex Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center of Apex, North Carolina.
When he isn’t teaching, Dr. Bailey conducts research focusing on patients with chronic illness who are being actively monitored rather than immediately treated. His earlier research focused on older men with prostate cancer and patients with hepatitis C who chose to forgo immediate treatment, retaining the option to receive more aggressive treatment if their disease began to worsen. While avoiding the risks of possibly unnecessary active treatments, patients who choose this “watchful waiting” approach may experience high levels of uncertainty. Dr. Bailey developed an intervention that helps these patients to reframe their thinking about their disease, thus improving quality of life.
“The goal is to improve symptoms and quality of life for these vulnerable patients and their caregivers.”Dr. Bailey is now engaged in a five-year study to tailor this intervention for patients with end-stage liver disease who are awaiting a liver transplant. A nurse or other health care provider teaches the patients and their caregivers coping skills, stress management techniques, and how to deal with symptoms. “The goal is to improve symptoms and quality of life for these vulnerable patients and their caregivers,” says Dr. Bailey.
Dr. Bailey meets with nursing students to work on a grant proposal to the National Institute of Nursing Research.
Dr. Bailey with nursing students, including Ashley Leak, 2009 BAGNC Pre-doctoral Scholar (in white coat), in a patient’s room at Rex Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center of Apex, North Carolina. They are working on a fall prevention program. 
Dr. Bailey teaching gerontologic nursing to baccalaureate nursing students. This course received an award as best Stand-Alone Baccalaureate Geriatric Nursing Course by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Hartford Foundation. Ann Kolanowski, PhD, RN ›