Congress Abstracts 2004

27

DEVELOPING NURSE RESEARCH LEADERS: A RESEARCH TRAINING EXPERIENCE. Judith Payne, PhD, RN, AOCN^®, Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, NC.

Schools of nursing can benefit from using general clinical research centers (GCRCs) as a source of pilot research funding for faculty and as a strategy in recruitment of faculty and post-doctoral students. GCRCs are a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported network of approximately 75 centers that provide an optimal setting for investigators to conduct safe, controlled patient-oriented research studies.

General clinical research centers are important environments for nursing research. As nurse researchers increasingly become more involved in physical measurements and developing translational research studies investigating biochemical measures, it is imperative that nurse leaders and researchers consider the use of GCRCs to conduct research. The research and leadership skills gained through time spent in the rigorous multidisciplinary environment supported by GCRCs are invaluable.

The purpose of this study was to describe the knowledge level of senior nursing faculty regarding their awareness of the purpose of GCRCs, to determine the frequency of use by nursing faculty, and whether the presence of GCRCs in their institution has ever been used as a recruitment item for faculty and post-doctoral students. Also described was whether schools of nursing inform potential new faculty and post-doctoral students of opportunities offered by GCRCs.

A mailed survey questionnaire was directed to the offices of research at schools of nursing and to GCRCs. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data.

Findings show that the majority of senior nurse researchers are not aware of the purpose and location of GCRCs and, therefore, generally do not discuss with potential faculty or post-doctoral students. Few nurse researchers have used GCRCs in their own research studies.

GCRCs are unique research environments that provide potential sources of funding for nursing research. GCRCs provide pilot funding to investigators for patient-oriented research involving translational research studies as well as studies determining physiological responses to human conditions. Research studies of this nature are needed to provide evidence for nursing practice.