Providing Resources for Recovery
PLU's First DNP Cohort Graduate Biwei Dong
PLU’s first doctoral program trains nurse practitioners for lives of leadership. We had the opportunity to speak with Biwei Dong from the first graduating class of the DNP program.
For a stroke survivor, recovery can be daunting.
“Patients are usually overwhelmed after a stroke event,” Biwei Dong said. “It’s a difficult transition after they leave the hospital.”
Often these patients have little or no support at home, and they don’t understand all the nuances of staying healthy after such a serious episode. “They are prime candidates for coming back to the hospital,” Dong said.
So, she used her doctoral project to make that transition a little easier. She conducted phone follow-ups with patients discharged from the stroke clinic at Valley Medical Center. She talked them through medications, community support services, in addition to providing other resources to keep them informed and healthy. The result was a reduced readmission rate for the patients she worked with. In other words, Dong’s project kept many of those patients out of the hospital.
She praises the extensive support she received from PLU faculty members who helped her complete the scholarly research necessary to execute the transition program.
“With this idea, you have to do lots of research,” she said. “(Faculty members) can give you guidance and help prevent you from making mistakes. They know how to make sure it’s on the right track.”
Where she is now: Dong is working as a family nurse practitioner for MultiCare Health System in Sammamish.
Transform lives with Pacific Lutheran University’s Doctor of Nursing Practice
Pacific Lutheran University’s Doctor of Nursing Practice prepares students to develop and evaluate quality care within a health system, collaborate with interprofessional teams to improve health outcomes, and be leaders in the nursing profession.
Our DNP program prepares nurses at the highest level of proficiency as they learn to translate science into clinical practice. Students develop the skills to lead collaboratively, integrate research into care, and design better healthcare delivery systems.