Patricia Grady, Ph.D., R.N.

In a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), Patricia Grady, Ph.D., R.N., NINR director, outlined the agency’s successes and her vision for its future in “bringing nursing science to life.”

Established with the mission of promoting and improving the health of individuals, families and communities, the NINR has always conducted and supported research focused on promoting health and preventing disease, improving quality of life and symptom management, bettering end-of-life care and alleviating health disparities.

“These areas tend to be where we focus all of our energy and resources,” Dr. Grady said.

A key framework underlying research at the NINR from its inception has been collaborative, or team science. “We use an integrative systems-based approach so that everyone benefits,” she said.

Another primary focus is the translational nature of research being done at the agency.

“Historically, our research agenda has gone from the bench-to-bedside and back, and we’re much more into incorporating that science into clinical practice and developing health policy,” Dr. Grady explained.

As evidence, she cited a number of research successes that have come from NINR-funded studies around the country and at the NINR’s home base in Bethesda, Maryland. Such work included the development of a pH test to improve the care of critically ill patients by reducing side effects and misplacement of feeding tubes.

“This research changed practice standards and made tube feeding safer, improving the lives of patients in the ICU,” she said.

NINR-funded research into the health effects of aberrant sleep patterns has delineated what adequate sleep is and the health effects of a lack of sleep. The research has now moved beyond health considerations into areas of public policy in the transportation, and fire and rescue fields, and has been used by the military and NASA.

Other research funded by the agency has created a transitional care model for chronically ill older patients that has lowered hospital re-admission rates, reduced costs and improved the quality of life for patients.

For the next 25 years, the Institute wants to lead the way in nursing research by continuing to focus on outcomes—not procedures—in patient care, something that will be reflected in national healthcare reform, Dr. Grady said.

Progress will be sustained by focusing on training the next generation of scientists, continuing to collaborate with other healthcare organizations, funding translational science and using it to improve clinical practice and providing highly effective scientific leadership, she said.

The remainder of the symposium included researchers who have benefited from NINR funding, guidance and collaboration. All credited the Institute for providing leadership and inspiration for their work.

“I was honored and blessed with the opportunity to spend a few years at the NINR with people who were amazingly bright and enthusiastic,” said Nancy Kline Leidy, Ph.D., R.N., a senior vice president with United BioSource Corporation, who specializes in the study of functional outcomes in COPD patients. “It was an eye-opening experience and a path forward for me personally, as well as for functional outcomes research.”

For Virginia Carrieri-Kohlman, D.N.Sc., R.N., professor of physiology nursing at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, her research would not have been possible if not for an award from the NINR.

“I want to thank all my colleagues at the NINR for their assistance,” said Dr. Carrieri-Kohlman, who studies the efficacy of the self-management of dyspnea. “My research has been funded by the NINR for approximately 25 years, and without this support, our advances would never have been made.”