Lunch “N” Learn with Dr. Deborah Lekan

Nursing and Frailty

Deborah Lekan, PhD, RN-BC is a faculty member at the UNCG School of Nursing since 2015. She received her undergraduate degree in nursing from UNC-Chapel, master’s degree in gerontological nursing from Georgetown University, and PhD from UNCG school of nursing. Prior to joining UNCG, she taught at NC A&T State University, Barton College, Duke University, and UNC-Chapel Hill schools of nursing.

Dr. Lekan is a member of the Gerontological Society of America, Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society, the American Nurses Association, and N.C. Nurses Association in which she serves as co-chair of the N.C. Council on Gerontological Nursing. Dr. Lekan’s work in gerontological nursing has been recognized by awards that include the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence (2018), the UNCG Provost Scholarship and Creative Activity Award, Society of Wound, Ostomy, the Continence Nursing Leadership Award (2009), and the N.C. Nurses Association Gerontological Nurse of the Year (1998). Dr. Lekan has extensive classroom and clinical teaching experience in geriatric nursing in acute and long-term care and in community settings. As co-director of the Duke Geriatric Nursing Innovations in Education Institute from 2005-2012, she provided continuing education and consultation to nurses across N.C. on the implementation of quality improvement projects for geriatric syndromes such as falls, pressure ulcers, pain, delirium, urinary incontinence, and oral hygiene. Currently, Dr. Lekan teaches gerontological nursing and other courses in the undergraduate, master’s degree, and doctorate of nursing practice programs at UNCG. Her program of research is focused on aging with a special interest in frailty in acutely ill hospitalized older adults. With over 50 publications, she has demonstrated ongoing dedication to advancing the science and understanding about key aspects of aging and the aging experience.

This presentation will focus on how the construct of frailty was operationalized using a biopsychosocial model to identify evidence- based geriatric risk factors in the electronic health record (EHR) in hospitalized older adults using structured data that includes 26 ICD-10 diagnosis classification codes and blood biomarkers and modeled in analyses to examine outcomes such as 30-day hospital readmission, in-hospital mortality, and transfer to the intensive care unit/ ICU. The research challenges associated with using existing EHR data and clinical implications including interprofessional communication and collaboration for optimal patient care and development of clinical decision support tools will be discussed.