Concept of Nursing Scientist In Nursing Education
Who is Nurse Scientist
A nurse scientist is a registered nurse (RN) who investigates issues relevant to the discipline of nursing, including professional practice, education, care delivery, and policy dimensions. A nurse scientist possesses intellectual curiosity and uses the skills of scientific inquiry to design studies that describe phenomena of interest to nurses, create new knowledge, and present that knowledge in a way that it can be applied to nursing practice, education, care delivery, and policy development.
Education Priorities of Nursing Scientists
Nurse scientists are academically prepared at the doctoral level. Nurses with a research doctorate are prepared to design and conduct studies using qualitative and quantitative methods, develop theory, and create and test the usefulness of policy (American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN] 2010). It is critical that nurse scientists work with nurses in practice and with inter-professional partners to generate knowledge that is useful for patient care, theory that explains phenomena of interest to nursing, and policy that has an impact on both consumers of health care and professionals who work in the health care arena .
Origin of Concept Nursing Scientist
In 1968, the emerging nurse scientist was defined as a nurse who was capable of designing and carrying out research studies and also was knowledgeable in an area that was important to nursing. The goal of these new nursing scientists was to help practicing nurses adapt to a changing health care environment (Kolthoff, 1968). Early doctoral programs to prepare nursing scientists were in other disciplines, such as anthropology, anatomy, and psychology, but evolved to focus on the distinct science of nursing (Gortner, 1991), nursing research doctoral programs are now numerous, and postdoctoral study is available for additional grounding in a specialty area of nursing research (AACN, 2010).
Funding for nursing research is available from many sources, including the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR & Cantelon, 2010), as well as other governmental and private organizations Although most funding for nursing research has been directed toward priorities related to patient care, some funding is also now. available for research on the science of nursing education.
Nursing education research is needed because our curricula and strategies for educating nurses have not changed to reflect the changes in the health care system and in nursing work (Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, & Day, 2010), and national organizations are recognizing the need to develop and test new ways of educating nurses (National League for Nursing [NLN] Board of Governors, 2012). Nurse scientists can now be found working in academic, practice, and industry settings, but most nurse scientists practice in an academic setting (Lewallen & Kohlenberg, 2011).
As academic nurse scientists become more numerous, it is more common to find nurse scientists working in smaller academic settings not affiliated with academic medical centers, and often carrying a heavy teaching load that leaves little time for research. In order for nursing science to progress, time for both research and teaching needs to be incorporated into the work life of the nurse scientist in any.
Capabilities of Nurse Scientist
In 1968, the emerging nurse scientist was defined as a nurse who was capable of designing and carrying out research studies and also was knowledgeable in an area that was important to nursing. The goal of these new nursing scientists was to help practicing nurses adapt to a changing health care environment (Kolthoff, 1968). Early doctoral programs to prepare nursing scientists were in other disciplines, such as anthropology, anatomy, and psychology, but evolved to focus on the distinct science of nursing (Gartner, 1991).
Nursing research doctoral programs are now numerous, and postdoctoral study is available for additional grounding in a specialty area of nursing research (AACN, 2010). Funding for nursing research is available from many sources, including the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR & Cantelon, 2010), as well as other governmental and private organizations. Although most funding for nursing research has been directed toward priorities related to patient care, some funding is also now available for research on the science of nursing education.
Nursing education research is needed because our curricula and strategies for educating nurses have not changed to reflect the changes in the health care system and in nursing work (Benner, Sutphen, Leonard, & Day, 2010), and national organizations are recognizing the need to develop and test new ways of educating nurses (National League for Nursing [NLN] Board of Governors, 2012), Nurse scientists can now be found working in academic, practice, and industry settings, but most nurse scientists practice in an academic setting (Lewallen & Kohlenberg, 2011).
As academic nurse scientists become more numerous, it is more common to find nurse scientists working in smaller academic settings not affiliated with academic medical centers, and offers carrying a heavy teaching load that leaves little time for research. In order for nursing science to progress, time for both research and teaching needs to be incorporated into the work life of the nurse scientist in any academic setting (Broome, 2011, Broome, Ironside, & McNelis, 2012).
In this way, nursing science will continue to be developed in a variety of settings, and nursing students in all those settings will be mentored by active scientists. If nursing students can see from the beginning of their education that the development and use of nursing science and theories is an accepted and important part of the work of the professional nurse, they will perhaps consider doctoral education for themselves in the future.
Raising Trends of Nursing Scientists
With the increasing numbers of doctoral programs in nursing, the number of nursing scientists will continue to grow. The types of science that are investigated by nurses will continue to include topics important to patient care and health policy, as well as building nursing theory. More study is needed to add to the body of knowledge about the science of nursing education, and to better prepare nurses at all levels for the challenges of nursing work in direct patient care, nursing systems, health policy, and other emerging roles.
Nursing science can take many forms, and with the development of the doctor of nursing practice degree, more scientific knowledge in the form of evidence-based practice projects with direct application to patient care can be expected.
Give your opinion if have any.