Professor Paula Tanabe PhD, RN, FAEN, FAAN

a. Paula Tanabe is a Distinguished Professor of Nursing at Duke University. Dr. Tanabe was an ED Clinical Nurse Specialist and staff nurse for 25 years before pursuing her research agenda. She is consulted nationally for her expertise in this area and is currently leading efforts to improve ED management of SCD in North Carolina, guided by the Department of Public Health. As an ED CNS, she led many quality improvement efforts to improve the care of individuals with SCD. As a NIH funded researcher, the focus of her research is to improve ED care for individuals with SCD experiencing a vaso-occlusive crisis. She led several large clinical and implementation trials to develop individualized pain plans in EDs in the electronic health record for both ED providers AND patients. Dr. Tanabe is a member of ENA and NC ENA – Presentations listed are selected from a total of 23 (mostly national) in the past 2 years on the topic of improving care of SCD in the ED.