Nancy J. Ames PhD, RN, CCRN Clinical Nurse Specialist names@cc.nih.gov

Nancy J. Ames is the Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Research and Practice Development Service of the Clinical Center Nursing Department at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She received her Bachelors in Nursing from the University of Maryland and spent 2 years after graduation in the United States Army.  She has worked in numerous critical care units and spent more than 30 years practicing critical care nursing, specializing in pulmonary critical care and care of the patient who is receiving mechanical ventilation. Nancy came to the NIH in September of 1997 and has focused on bedside education and consulting as a method of improving care in the critical care units. In 2004, Dr. Ames applied and was awarded a pre-doctoral fellowship by the Nursing Department in order to complete her doctoral studies.  In 2009, she received her PhD from the University of Maryland Baltimore. Her dissertation topic and research interests include oral bacteria and describing this complex component of the human microbiome and its relationship to pulmonary infection.

Program Interests

Critical Care Course and Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) Review Course
Developed and implemented a basic critical care course for nurses new to the specialty. Customized the components of these courses to reflect the research practice environment.

Adjunct Faculty/Advanced Practice Nursing Preceptor
Provides clinical preceptor services for Practitioner/CNS Graduate Program-University of Maryland Graduate School of Nursing and Georgetown University.

National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) Institutional Review Committee Member

Member of NHGRI IRB

NIH Code Team Evaluator
Provides training and quality assessment of all code team members and interventions, pediatric and adult.

Committees

CRN 2010: Clinical Research Nursing Education

Research Activities

Principal Investigator: 07-CC-0153 Effects of Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation on the Microbial Flora of the Oral Cavity

Principal Investigator: 04-CC-0130: The Effect of a Systemic Oral Care Program on Reducing Exposure to Oropharyngeal Pathogens in Critically III Patients

Associate Investigator: 07- CC-0011 Hypnosis as a Pain and Symptom Management Strategy in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease