New NINR Strategic Framework Guides Nurse Scientists to Solve the Nation’s ‘Pressing and Persistent Health Challenges’
The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) established its updated research framework (https://ninr.nih.gov/aboutninr/ninr-mission-and-strategic-plan/research-framework) to support its 2022–2026 strategic plan (https://ninr.nih.gov/aboutninr/ninr-mission-and-strategic-plan) and mission of leading “nursing research to solve pressing health challenges and inform practice and policy-optimizing health and advancing health equity.” The framework focuses on (https://ninr.nih.gov/aboutninr/ninr-mission-and-strategic-plan/research-framework) and encourages research that “informs practice and policy and improves health and quality of life for all people, their families and communities, and the society in which they live.”
Part of the research framework highlights guiding principles (https://ninr.nih.gov/aboutninr/ninr-mission-and-strategic-plan/research-framework) for NINR-supported research. When considering funding, NINR prioritizes research that:
- Tackles current pressing health challenges and stimulates discoveries to prepare for or address future challenges
- Discovers solutions for healthcare settings to optimize health for all populations
- Advances equity by removing structural barriers from research, cultivating diversity in perspectives and ideas, and fostering inclusion and accessibility in all aspects of research
- Develops or applies the most rigorous methods, is innovative, and has potential to have the greatest impact on health
The research framework also outlined five research lenses (https://ninr.nih.gov/aboutninr/ninr-mission-and-strategic-plan/research-framework) that promote the strengths of nursing research and encourage multilevel approaches, collaboration, and engagement in research:
- Health equity
- Social determinants of health
- Population and community health
- Prevention and health promotion
- Systems and models of care
NINR said (https://ninr.nih.gov/aboutninr/ninr-mission-and-strategic-plan/research-framework) that the updated framework promotes “innovative and rigorous multilevel study designs that look upstream, midstream, and downstream to discover solutions to the nation’s most pressing and persistent health challenges.”