DIGGING FOR GOLD Researchers at Columbia Nursing are unearthing dazzling data in a broad range of fields— a treasure trove that could help improve patient care everywhere. | By Kenneth Miller
I
n the late 1980s, Columbia University School of Nursing, whose emphasis had always been on preparing superb clinicians, set out to transform itself into a research powerhouse. First came the so-called Columbia Model, a groundbreaking approach to nursing education, which required all instructors to engage in research or scholarly practice. A part-time doctor of nursing science (DNSc) program was launched a few years later and had morphed into a full-time PhD program by 2008. Eminent nurse-scientists flocked to the school, as did students eager to follow in their footsteps. Today, three decades after the initiative began, its success can be expressed in numbers. Columbia Nursing is one of the largest
per-capita recipients among nursing schools of grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its doctoral program is among the top 10 percent of nursing school recipients nationwide of federal training grants for predoctoral and postdoctoral scholars. The school’s faculty members have more than 70 active research grants and publish dozens of articles each year in peer-reviewed journals. Columbia Nursing’s research enterprise is organized around an array of programs, including two centers funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). In all these settings, veteran investigators pursue their own ambitious projects, while mentoring those just starting their careers. Together,
masters and novices focus on improving clinical effectiveness, health systems, and health policy, often wielding powerful new digital tools—mobile technologies, artificial intelligence, informatics—to track patients’ symptoms and behaviors, enhance their interactions with health care providers, and find meaningful patterns amid petabytes of data. “No matter their area of study,” says Elaine Larson, PhD, RN, senior associate dean for research and the Anna C. Maxwell Professor of Nursing Research, “our nurse-scientists share the same basic goals: to better serve underserved populations, to reduce health disparities, and to improve care for all patients.” Read on for a sampling of their pioneering work. >
Spring 2019
Columbia Nursing 15
