Promoting the scholarship of research for faculty and students.

Abstract: Research has become a highly valued activity for nurses. Students at the undergraduate and graduate levels are experiencing more and more research in their programs. As part of the faculty role in higher education, promotion and tenure are tied to the scholarship of research. Yet many schools of nursing do not have a well-developed capacity of nursing faculty members who have the knowledge and skills to competently engage in a research program of their own or to guide and inspire students to pursue a research career. This paper is an attempt to challenge administrators to more aggressively promote research, and faculty and students to think more intensively about the scholarship of research. The challenges of developing a program of research for promoting faculty and students' research are discussed. Strategies for promoting faculty research and advice for beginning researchers are included. Key Words: Nursing Research, Scholarship of Research, Programs of Research, Faculty and Student Research, Promoting Faculty Research Research has become a highly valued activity for nurses. Research is empowering every nurse's clinical practice. Students at the undergraduate and graduate levels are experiencing more and more research in their programs. As part of the faculty role in higher education, promotion and tenure are tied to the scholarship of research. Yet many schools of nursing do not have a well-developed capacity of nursing faculty members who have the knowledge and skills to competently engage in an extensive research program of their own or to guide and inspire students to pursue a research career. Additionally, there are too few nurse researchers and nurses in practice who are sufficiently research-aware. This article is an attempt to challenge administrators to more aggressively promote research and to challenge faculty and students to think more intensively and extensively about a career in nursing research. The focus will be on the challenges of developing a program of research. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in its Position Statement Nursing Education's Agenda for the 21st Century, (1999), states that research in nursing and nursing education has evolved in the last decade from a peripheral position in the profession to one of the leading indicators of nursing's participation in the scientific community. AACN position statement guidelines are based on three assumptions. One of the assumptions is that "integrated programs of nursing research are necessary to maximize knowledge development, to incorporate research into educational programs, and to translate research into practice." To adequately address today's health problems the integration of researchers and research programs into schools of nursing, and the assimilation of nurse researchers into the scientific community must occur. (AACN, 1999). Programs of research are necessary to develop a wealth of scholarly scientific knowledge and for the development of a cadre of nurse scientists. However, developing a program of research is no easy task. Several challenges exist including creating the research environment, cultivating the researchers, selecting the focus of inquiry and most importantly having a strong commitment to research. COMMITMENT TO PROGRAMS OF RESEARCH By definition a program of research is a series of studies conducted in a topic area such that logical progression of knowledge is revealed (Fitch, 1996). A program of research has focused, long term commitment to increasing research skills in a continuous manner, pursuing a truly significant problem, and applying appropriate procedures for conducting the inquiry. The focus is on the skills needed for rigorous research rather than on a very specific topic (Felton, McCorkle, & Redman, 1998). Developing a strong and viable research program requires bold and committed leadership; leadership in the creation of policies and procedures and a culture supportive of the many programs of research of the individual nurse scientist. …