Page 345 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

312 n NATIONAL INSTITuTe OF NuRSING ReSeARCH

100 people, including scientists, administra- home- and community-based use; and devel-
tors, and support staff. oping future research and clinical workforce
N NINR supports clinical and basic at a time of increased demand across numer-
research to build the scientific foundation for ous sectors of the health care system.
clinical practice, prevent disease and disabil- A fundamental part of NINR’s mission is
ity, manage and eliminate symptoms caused developing the next generation of scientists.
by illness, and enhance end-of-life and pallia- The percentage of NINR’s budget allocated
tive care. NINR’s research portfolio is greater to training is nearly twice the NIH average.
than 90% clinically focused. Although NINR under its training programs, NINR sup-
does support basic research, which has his- ports graduate and postgraduate research
torically comprised a large proportion of fellowships and career development awards,
the NIH research portfolio, the institute has including awards to trainees from underrep-
always been a leader at NIH, and across the resented and disadvantaged backgrounds.
broader biomedical community, in clinical Many NINR-trained scientists will also serve
research and research translation. as faculty in schools of nursing, responsible
Over the past 25 years, NINR-supported for educating future nurses that are vital to
scientists have addressed clinical and policy improving patient health and the effective-
deficiencies across the health and health care ness of the nation’s health care.
spectrum, improving—often transforming— NINR supports a number of special-
practice guidelines and public policies on the ized training programs designed to pro-
basis of their research findings. NINR grant- mote career advancement and provide the
ees have led the way in bringing person- next generation of scientists with the skills
centered, point-of-care translational research necessary to address today’s most press-
to the forefront of the health sciences by ing issues. For example, the NINR Summer
investigating all dimensions of health includ- Genetics Institute is an intensive summer
ing fundamental issues of quality of care and training program that provides graduate
quality of life in disparate settings from the students and faculty with a foundation in
neonatal intensive care unit (NICu) to nurs- molecular genetics to enhance their research
ing homes; preventative interventions and and clinical practice. Along with supporting
symptom management in acute critical care numerous other predoctoral and postdoc-
settings and in the realm of chronic disease; toral research opportunities, NINR also par-
and health promotion for individuals, fam- ticipates in the NIH Graduate Partnerships
ilies, and communities across the life span Program, a doctoral fellowship training pro-
and across generations. gram that coordinates training and funding
NINR’s focus on science that spans the for doctoral students attending schools of
full disease spectrum and all stages of life nursing with established NINR-supported
enables the institute to explore and address training programs. Another program, the
some of the most important challenges K22 Career Transition Award, funds post-
affecting the health of the American people. doctoral research in two phases: an intramu-
These issues include improving management ral phase at NIH and an extramural phase
of chronic illness, including in persons with to aid the transition to tenure-track research
comorbid conditions; developing new strate- and faculty positions. In addition, the BNC
gies for preventive health that are culturally Fellowship, supported by the Bravewell
relevant at a time of increasing ethnic, racial, Collaborative, NINR, and the NIH Clinical
and cultural diversity and in the face of per- Center, trains individuals on how to address
sistent health disparities; enhancing the key issues in integrative health research.
ability to translate emerging patient manage- In NINR’s role as the lead NIH institute
ment technologies into clinical practice and for end-of-life research, an area of increasing