Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute Nurse Wins National Award for Heart Failure Education Work

MURRAY – A nurse practitioner from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute is the recipient of a prestigious national award from the Heart Failure Society of America.

Kismet Rasmusson, nurse practitioner and program development lead for the Heart Failure and Transplant program at Intermountain Heart Institute, is the recipient of the 2012 Clinical Excellence in Nursing Award from the Heart Failure Society of America.

The award is given to one nurse annually to recognize nursing excellence in providing heart failure services to patients, their families and other medical professionals. This year’s award was presented to Rasmusson at the HFSA Scientific Session in Seattle.

“This is quite an honor for Kismet, because it recognizes the great work she does to advance the care of heart failure patients and to educate professionals in quality heart failure care,” said Sandi Stoker, director of Heart Failure, Heart Transplant and Artificial Heart Programs at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute.

Rasmusson is dedicated to educating patients and families about heart failure. She has played an integral role in developing an educational program for Intermountain Healthcare called MAWDS. MAWDS is an acronym that teaches patients how to manage their heart failure at home: M (take prescribed medication), A (stay active), W (watch weight), D (follow a heart-healthy diet), and S (monitor heart failure symptoms).

Use of this protocol has increased survival rates, decreased hospital admissions, and made improvements in quality of life for heart failure patients. Patients who receive MAWDS education show a 23% mortality improvement compared to those who do not. In addition, those who receive MAWDS education have meaningful survival benefits sustained out to 5 years.

“I am honored to have received this national recognition for my work in heart failure,” says Rasmusson. “My peers nominated me for the award, and this means the most to me. I have been so fortunate to have a role where I not only care for heart failure patients, but I work on improving processes of care for other patients with heart failure whom we serve across the Intermountain Healthcare system.”

Rasmusson holds a MSN from the University of Utah. In addition, she is a fellow of the American Heart Association and is board certified in Heart Failure.