Georgie Cusack RN, MS, AOCN® Clinical Nurse Specialist gcusack@cc.nih.gov

Georgie Cusack, RN, MS, AOCN is a Clinical Nurse Specialist within the Research and Practice Development Service of the Clinical Center Nursing Department at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Ms Cusack received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 1984.  She started her career in Medical/Surgical Nursing and switched to oncology nursing in 1985 obtaining oncology certification in 1987.  Ms Cusack came to NIH as a traveling nurse in 1987, working for 10 years as a staff nurse in medical oncology in the inpatient and ambulatory care settings, before transferring to the National Cancer Institute to focus on breast cancer research. In 1999, Ms Cusack graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore as a Medical-Surgical Clinical Nurse Specialist with a focus in Oncology. She returned to the nursing department in 2000 as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in ambulatory hematology/oncology.  

Ms Cusack is an active member of the Oncology Nursing Society and provides ongoing mentorship and leadership development locally and nationally. She has held several positions within the local Potomac Area Oncology Nurses (PAON) chapter, and is the past chair of the ONS Nominating Committee.  Ms Cusack is a graduate of the ONS Leadership Development Institute, and is certified as an ONS Chemotherapy/Biotherapy Trainer, She received a Roberta Schofield Scholarship in 2004 and obtained her Advanced Oncology Nursing Certification (AOCN).

Ms Cusack consults and provides mentorship to healthcare organizations nationally and internationally on improving the oncology infrastructure, and developing nursing workload measurement systems for ambulatory care.  She has provided support to develop state of the art Cancer Centers with ongoing oncology training for nurses in Jordan, Turkey, Ireland, and Chile.  She presents locally, nationally, and internationally on a wide variety of topics and has coauthored several articles and book chapters.  She has received several awards while working at NIH including the CC Director’s Award for Strategic Initiatives in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007.  Ms Cusack is a School of Nursing Faculty Associate for the University of Maryland, School of Nursing and a member of Sigma Theta Tau. 

In 2008, Ms Cusack expanded her area of expertise as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Outcomes Management.  Her current role focuses on improving nursing-sensitive outcomes for Nursing and Patient Care Services department.

Program Interests

Nursing Database for Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) Site Coordinator
Responsible for oversight of data submission to NDNQI to compare outcomes with other hospitals of same size

Adjunct Faculty/Advanced Practice Nursing Preceptor
Provides clinical preceptor services as requested by Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner/CNS Graduate Program-University of Maryland Graduate School of Nursing

Ambulatory Intensity Expert
Collaborate with nursing leaders across the USA and in several countries to develop ambulatory intensity systems to measure nursing workload. System Administrator-Acuity Plus Nursing Workload Intensity System

Evidence-Based Practice Project-Venous Access Device Dressing Change Practices with patients experiencing hypersensitivity

Project Leader for Length of Stay (LOS) Project
Assist NPCS CNS group to:  1) develop a methodology to link clinical and research activities; and 2) describe clinical and research needs for patients with prolonged length of stay through patient vignettes

Project Leader for Online Clinical Trials Course
Develop online course for clinical trials course

Project Co-Leader for CNS Web site Development
Develop web site for internal and external review of CNS accomplishments

Wait Times Task Force
Develop methodology to measure wait times in ambulatory care

Committees

CRN 2010: CRN Domain of Practice
NPCS Nursing Practice Council
Evidence Based Practice Hub Committee
NPCS Retention and Recognition Committee
National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research Grand Rounds Committee
NCI Center for Cancer Research Professional Development Committee
Clinical Center Dashboard Indicator Development
Annual Report Committee

Research Activities

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Institutional Review Committee Member
Provides evaluative input as primary and general IRB member for National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Principal Investigator: Cusack, G, Dyer, V., Davis, P., Noone, M., Price, D., Ness, E., Koziol, D., Castro, K., Muehlbauer, P., Shelburne, N., & Woolery, M., PDQ nurse-awareness project using a pre-post survey and educational initiative. 2006-2007

Associate Investigator: Bevans, M., Mitchell, S.,  Barrett, J., Cusack, G., Prince, P.,  Shelburne, N., Savani, B., & Soeken, K. Prospective Study of Functional Status, Psychosocial Adjustment, Health Related Quality of Life and the Symptom Experience in Patients Treated with Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. 2006-2007