Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb: School of Nursing Faculty Directory

Overview

"This is a great time to be a nurse. It is increasingly recognized that nurses have a unique understanding of health care systems, and provider and patient issues. We’re leading efforts to solve challenging problems --- to make a difference in patient outcomes."

As a clinician, researcher, and nurse educator at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Dr. Cheryl Dennison Himmelfarb is committed to improving cardiovascular care for high risk, underserved populations. Her current research—which bridges scientific research and clinical practice and develops and tests interdisciplinary approaches—focuses on reducing system and provider barriers to the implementation of heart failure guidelines in acute care settings. To improve the quality of care among heart failure patients, she is developing and testing an innovative online decision support system to facilitate clinical adherence to national evidence-based guidelines. Dr. Dennison Himmelfarb also is a co-investigator on two National Institutes of Health funded trials testing the effectiveness of community-based cardiovascular risk intervention programs for high-risk urban populations and on another international study assessing total cardiovascular risk and barriers to high blood pressure care among black South Africans. Among her other clinical and research interests are hypertension, chronic illness management, quality of care, interdisciplinary teamwork, and provider behavior. She credits an exceptional mentoring relationship during her doctoral studies at the School for her ongoing dedication and motivation to excellence in nursing research.

Areas of Scholarly Expertise and Interest

Cardiovascular risk management; chronic illness management; self care; hypertension; heart failure; quality of care; interdisciplinary teamwork; provider behavior; evidence-based practice; decision support.