Happenings - Burgeoning Opportunities in Nursing Research

Abstract

Research opportunities for nurses in Canada have never been greater. Federal government funding of health research, including nursing research, has increased substantially in recent years. The priorities of many funding agencies have shifted to include a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaborative teams, providing an even greater opportunity for nurses to share in the research experience. In spite of the opportunities, the number of nurses applying for Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) research funds as principal investigators remains low relative to other disciplines. The application success rate for nurses is also lower than the overall average. New initiatives by CIHR and CHSRF are explicitly focused on building the capacity of Canadian nurses to lead and contribute to emerging and established research agendas. These initiatives, which are the subject of this paper, may be a remedy for the low level of research funding in nursing.