School of Nursing lands $1 million NIH grant

The School of Nursing has won a $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a comprehensive training program in nursing research.

The grant is one of fewer than a dozen training grants of this type awarded this year to nursing schools nationwide.

“This grant is significant because it signals a maturity in the school’s research status,” said School of Nursing Dean Vivian Littlefield. “Faculty researchers have developed programs that, while individually unique, focus on aspects of patient-centered informational interventions. We can now attract outstanding pre-doctoral students and well-qualifed post-docs to extend the science in this area.”

The grant provides funding for 10 pre-doctoral and four post-doctoral students to be trained as nurse scholars who will investigate how nurses influence patient behavior through the delivery of health information.

A number of faculty at the school are currently involved in testing patient interventions in breast cancer management, pain control and methods of controlling incontinence. Their research focuses on how nurses can best tailor their messages in light of patients’ emotional states, preferences and perceptions about health care.

A core group of five nursing faculty, led by professor Patti Brennan, will direct the training program with significant interdisciplinary collaboration from faculty in the medical, engineering and education schools.

The School of Nursing is the state’s oldest collegiate nursing program, observing its 75th anniversary this year. It offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing. Its current enrollment exceeds 500 students.