Preparing Nurse Scientists: Challenges and Solutions

Moving the needle further and faster: Policy and leadership opportunities to support early career nurse faculty and build resilience in establishing and growing their programs of research

Nurse scientists play a critical role in advancing the nursing field and improving health, but early career faculty can enter the academic ranks with little training in how to effectively establish, manage, and grow a program of research (POR) or weather the storms that accompany a research-intensive academic path. This can lead many nurse scientists to leave academic positions or even abandon their POR altogether. This is problematic at a societal level because nurse scientists bring a unique and valuable holistic perspective to scientific inquiry and an orientation towards community-based work, team science, intersectionality, and participatory approaches essential to address urgent health challenges. To enhance the impact of nurse scientists as a collective on academic research and human health, more attention should be given to the concept of resilience in the context of a research-focused career and the necessary structural changes that effectively support early career faculty in establishing thriving PORs. This article offers considerations relevant to administrative leaders, policymakers, and established faculty, at both the institutional and disciplinary level, to support early career faculty in establishing PORs that take root and flourish.