Research

A research-intensive School of Nursing

Research at the school of nursing is collaborative, interprofessional and enlightened in its focus on holistic, environmental, social and contextual factors that affect health and well-being. As a national leader in big data science, the school’s faculty and students have opportunities to query electronic health record and claims data on more than 140 million lives through its partnerships. Research and active scholarship is currently focused in four areas.

A rich array of interprofessional research opportunities are available to faculty and students at the School of Nursing. Robust scholarly inquiry is central to the School of Nursing’s mission and is enhanced by close collaboration with schools and colleges within the University and its Academic Health Center comprised of: pharmacy, medicine, public health, dentistry, veterinary medicine and nursing.

Research and Scholarship Areas: Four Areas of Focus

Following are the four focus areas of research with examples of active research programs at the school today.

Health Promotion among Vulnerable Populations

• Healthy family meals to prevent childhood obesity
• Community-based interventions to promote mental health among immigrants and refugees
• Healthy youth development interventions to reduce risky behaviors
• Preventing falls in older adults

Prevention and Management of Chronic Health Conditions

• Comprehensive support for Alzheimer’s caregivers
• Exercise interventions to improve functioning in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, peripheral artery disease and pediatric cancer
• Promoting healthy transitions into adulthood for youth with chronic illness
• Telehealth and mobile app interventions for children with chronic conditions and their family caregivers

Symptom Management

• Development of mobile health strategies to monitor symptoms and improve health outcomes
• Management of urinary and fecal incontinence
• Memory care management
• Reducing fatigue and symptom distress in children undergoing cancer treatment

Health/Nursing Informatics and Systems Innovation

• Big Data research for transforming health care
• Developing analytic and predictive models to improve patient outcomes
• Improving quality and patient safety in multiple settings (e.g., acute care, home health, long-term care)
• Developing and testing natural data and informatics standards

Research Support

The mission of the six member Office of Nursing Research and Scholarship team is to support the School of Nursing’s goal to become a top-echelon, research-intensive school by:

• Providing a collaborative approach to delivering reliable, thorough and comprehensive grant assistance to faculty and students
• Serving as the School of Nursing hub for faculty and student research and scholarship activities
• Gathering and reporting research and information to link faculty and students to relevant resources

Funding

Funding is available on a competitive basis for pilot studies to launch faculty toward external funding success. Examples include:

• Academic Health Center funding—faculty development and seed grants
• Clinical and Translational Science Institute pilot and collaborative translational research grants
• The Office of the Vice President for Research— Grant-in-Aid and transdisciplinary grants