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Four Radboudumc research teams have secured funding in the latest ZonMw call 'Innovatieve verpleegkundige en verzorgende passende zorg: goede voorbeelden' (Innovative Nursing and Care: Good Examples of Appropriate Care). With these awards, Radboudumc researchers account for four out of the ten nationally granted projects—an impressive recognition of the innovative strength of nursing and care research in Nijmegen. Each project, receiving up to €325,000, offers a concrete, practice-based approach to improving care in areas ranging from paediatrics to elderly care and rehabilitation.
These projects align with a broader movement within healthcare to empower nurses and caregivers as innovators. The ZonMw Nursing and Care programme stimulates practice-based research that responds to real-world challenges, such as workforce shortages, growing care complexity, and the need for more person-centred care. By funding bottom-up initiatives from nurses and caregivers themselves, the programme strengthens their professional development and supports sustainable solutions that can be embedded in daily practice.
Here are the four honored projects:
Project 1 | 'Passend KindZorgprogramma' (PKZ)
Tailored care for vulnerable children and families
The Appropriate Child Care Program (PKZ), developed at the Amalia Children’s Hospital by Joris Fuijkschot, Maud Heinen, and Olaf Gerdes, focuses on delivering tailored care and support for vulnerable children and families in the appropriate setting: at the heart of the family. The study evaluates effectiveness and explores how AI can enhance the program and ease caregiver workload. It aims to enable broader application beyond hospital settings and generate insights into how social factors shape healthcare needs.
Project 2 | REMIND tool (REsilience Monitor of INformal care in Dementia)
Strengthening informal dementia care through digital monitoring
Led by Marieke Perry, the REMIND project at the Radboudumc Alzheimer Center investigates how digital tools can help informal caregivers prevent crisis admissions of people with dementia. The REMIND monitor collects weekly data on early warning signs and caregiver resilience, enabling timely support from nurses and case managers. The project will evaluate the tool’s impact and broaden its use to caregivers with limited health literacy or those supporting patients with Parkinson’s or stroke.
Project 3 | INNOVATE: INNOvative Continuous monitoring and scoring of VitAl signs
Innovative nursing care through continuous monitoring for early detection of deterioration.
With her project, Getty Huisman-de Waal, aims to enhance nursing care by embedding continuous monitoring and AI-driven scoring of vital signs into daily hospital practice. Building on Radboudumc’s leading role in implementing wearable devices for real-time vital sign tracking, the study explores the Visensia Safety Index to detect early signs of patient deterioration more effectively than traditional Early Warning Scores. While traditional Early Warning Scores use occasional vital sign checks to spot health risks, the Visensia Index continuously analyzes these signs with AI to detect problems earlier. The project will define best practices and develop national guidelines to support safe and appropriate use of continuous monitoring and scoring by nurses. The 3-year research is conducted in collaboration with MUMC+, UMC Utrecht, and Health Innovation Labs.
Project 4 | The nurse telecoach: description and evaluation of a new position
Personalised digital support for chronic care
Tijn Kool and colleagues are evaluating and advancing the Digital Health Center (DGC), an innovative regional initiative that empowers people with chronic conditions to manage their health through digital care. At the heart of the DGC is the “nurse telecoach,” who not only assists with medical matters via home monitoring and video consultations, but also addresses mental well-being and broader life questions. This personalised, proactive approach has already reached over 3,000 patients and is a collaboration between hospitals, GPs, rehabilitation centres and municipalities in the Kennemerland region. The project explores how telecoaching influences patient experience, care coordination, and the role of healthcare professionals—and will develop training to help scale the model to other regions.
About the ZonMw Nursing & Care grant
These projects are part of the ZonMw Nursing and Care programme, specifically the call 'Innovatieve verpleegkundige en verzorgende passende zorg: goede voorbeelden'. With a total budget of €4 million, the call supports the evaluation and upscaling of impactful nursing and care innovations. Each project received up to €325,000 to help embed proven practices more widely in healthcare, strengthening care that is person-centred, future-proof, and aligned with what matters most to patients and professionals alike.
