A CHALLENGE FOR INVESTMENT: ACCELERATING NURSING RESEARCH
T
he Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON ) is a leader in accelerating the discovery and translation of knowledge and innovation that impact care delivery. The school currently conducts over 70 nursing research projects that span the care continuum and seek to increase knowledge, improve patient outcomes, and inform evidence-based practice. Positioned as a preeminent institution committed to nursing science, the school is leveraging its resources and infrastructure to support a significant and sustained increase in the generation and oversight of nursing research concepts and projects.
Recognizing nursing research is a key driver in delivering quality, effective health care and promoting health, Duke Health Chancellor A. Eugene Washington, MD, MPH, M.Sc., and School of Nursing Dean Marion E. Broome, PhD, RN, FAAN, have established A Challenge for Investment: Accelerating Nursing Research, a $1 million challenge fund to accelerate translational research within the Duke University School of Nursing. With these matching funds, this program will enable individual donors to support funding for start-up, pilot, and bridge funding that will ultimately attract additional sustained research support, doubling the value and impact of philanthropic contributions designated for research in the School of Nursing. The goal of this challenge is to build a pool of $2 million in unrestricted and targeted research funding by 2022.
THE GOAL:
build a pool of $2M in unrestricted and targeted research funding by 2022.
The primary objectives of nursing and medical research are the same: improving the patient experience of care, improving the health of populations, and improving health outcomes. Where medical research focuses on developing new treatments or medications and identifying causes of illness, nursing research focuses on building the body of knowledge to identify evidence-based practices that will improve how a patient responds to treatments and their quality of life following acute and chronic illnesses. Our emphasis on research also aligns with the Translating Duke Health initiative—a multi-disciplinary, multi-year initiative created by Chancellor Washington, to harness the expertise and knowledge found at Duke to address society’s most significant scientific and health care challenges and fulfill the vision of making discoveries and transforming health for millions. Translating Duke Health is a platform of resources—including people, services, technology, infrastructure and funding—focusing on areas where Duke Health can have the greatest impact on transformative treatments and prevention strategies. This, in turn, will accelerate and energize an enhanced environment of partnership and integration among the scientific, clinical, population health, big data science, and computing communities across Duke. 1
