NEW YORK NURSE: December 2007
by Joely Johnson
In early 2006, NYSNA’s Board of Directors and the nonprofit Foundation of New York State Nurses’ Board of Trustees agreed to integrate the two organizations’ nursing research programs.
The Council on Nursing Research and the Center for Nursing Research Planning Committee recently merged to become the Foundation Center for Nursing Research Planning Committee (FCNRPC). The Committee’s overarching goal is to facilitate nursing research and bring the fruits of that research to enhance patient care and health outcomes through promotion of evidence-based nursing practice.
Taking transition steps
Merging into one group has meant integrating leadership and creating new policies. Initially, the chairpersons of each original group served as co-chairs of the Research Planning Committee. After the first year, the committee adopted a single chairperson structure. Rona Levin of Pace University became chair and Jeanne-Marie Havener of Hartwick College was elected vice-chair.
“As a NYSNA representative and vice chair of the committee, I have a unique vantage point from which to see the research needs of all New York nurses,” said Havener.
NYSNA-appointed members of the committee are Havener, Gina Myers, Joanne Singleton, and Amy Wysoker. Foundation-appointed members include Levin, Denise Coté-Arsenault, Bethel Ann Powers, Gale Spencer, and Priscilla Sandford Worral.
Funding for members’ attendance at Research Planning Committee meetings comes from members’ parent organizations, either NYSNA or the Foundation. NYSNA also has an ongoing agreement with the Foundation to advance the association’s goal of promoting nursing research in New York State.
Supporting regional research groups
The Statewide Nursing Research Agenda is perhaps the most ambitious of the committee’s projects. This agenda is a continually updated strategic plan designed to encourage evidence-based practice throughout the state. “We found that the best way to promote evidence-based practice is at the grassroots level,” said Cindy Gurney, research specialist for the committee. “The agenda spells out a plan for providing consultation and support to regional groups that want to put research into practice.”
Existing local research groups include the Leatherstocking Alliance for Research in Nursing, the Capital District Nursing Research Alliance, and the Central New York Nurses Collaborative to Advance Research and Evidence-based Practice. A new group is forming on Long Island and in the metropolitan New York area, with others proposed elsewhere in the state. For more information on regional nursing research groups, contact the Research Planning Committee through the Foundation at 518-456-7858.
Many ways to foster research
The agenda also outlines other ways to spread the word about the importance of evidence-based practice in nursing. One is “Research News You Can Use,” a column that appears in every other issue of New York Nurse. The committee also initiated the successful idea of nursing research consultation hours at the NYSNA Convention.
Plans are underway to foster nursing research through an expanded awards program. “One way to encourage research is to recognize excellence,” said Gurney. In addition to the Distinguished Nurse Researcher Award, which has been bestowed upon an outstanding nurse researcher every year since 1980, the committee is planning to honor both novice researchers and organizations that exemplify excellence in putting evidence-based research into practice. A call for award nominations will be issued in February 2008.
Each year, NYSNA provides funding for one new Research Fellow to receive mentoring and gain experience through involvement with the Research Planning Committee. This year, however, two nurses will experience the two-year fellowship process together. The extra Research Fellow will be the first ever funded by the Foundation of New York State Nurses: