Good Morning. I am Dr. Margaret
Heitkemper, Professor in the Department of Biobehavioral
Health at the University of Washington School of Nursing.
I am pleased to be able to provide testimony today on behalf
of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing - AACN.
AACN represents almost 600 senior colleges and universities
which award baccalaureate and graduate degrees in nursing.
Moreover, the AACN membership includes the 93 academic programs
in these senior colleges and universities which award research-focused
doctoral degrees and prepare the nation's nurse researchers.
Research focused doctoral programs in nursing
have seen robust growth increasing in number from 52 programs
in 1990 to 93 in 2005. Over the last fifteen years, over
6000 individuals have graduated from these institutions
with either the Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing or the
Doctorate of Nursing Science. Additionally, in the last
five years - the National Research Council's recommended
period for measuring productivity in research focused doctoral
programs - almost 2000 individuals have graduated from these
programs. Additionally, in 2005, AACN recorded the enrollment
of over 3500 individuals in these research focused nursing
doctoral programs. Both the PhD and DNS programs are shaped
to produce researchers prepared to engage in research focused
on creating the knowledge that will shape nursing practice.
Beginning in 1986, AACN led efforts to identify
the elements that should be present to assure quality in
research focused doctoral programs. In 2001, the community
of nurse scientists and educators again revised the statement
- The Indicators of Quality in Research
Focused Doctoral Programs in Nursing. These standards
were created to provide a benchmark reference for faculty,
students, and researchers for the development and assessment
of these research focused programs. The standards articulate
the full array of resources and expectations that should
be present in high quality programs and mirror many of the
elements included in the NRC qualitative and quantitative
measures for assessment of doctoral programs.
Nurse researchers from these programs engage
in a wide array of research activities - both basic and
applied. Funding for nursing research is acquired from a
wide range of supporting agencies including the National
Institute of Health, the Agency for Health Care Research
and Quality, the Department of Defense, and numerous foundations.
In recognition of the important role of nursing research
in improving the health of the public and framing the nature
of therapeutic interventions for multiple professionals,
Congress created the National Institute of Nursing Research
at the NIH to assure strong support for nursing research
and the development of nurse scientists in our nation's
research focused nursing doctoral programs. The National
Institute of Nursing Research serves as a major source of
funding for preparation of nurse scientists and for centers
of nursing research housed in the doctoral programs.
AACN believes that the research conducted
by nurse scientists bears strong resemblance to that conducted
by engineering scientists - a field of study included in
the NRC taxonomy. The research conducted by scientists in
both these fields includes both basic and applied science
which guides both the practice in the discipline and provides
a fundamental base of science to expand knowledge about
the phenomena that frame the practice. As examples of nursing
research, we offer the following descriptions of current
research at our nation's nursing doctoral programs.
These three examples of basic research activities
in nursing doctoral programs provide a limited exposure
to the complex array of scientific activities conducted
in these academic programs. However, they provide clear
evidence of the involvement of nurse scientists in basic
science similar to that conducted in the biomedical science
programs to be reviewed by the NRC. Further, it is our view
that the practice focused research activities, which the
NRC committees believes are beyond the evaluatory scope
of the assessment process can be appropriately evaluated
using the reputational framework outlined in the NRC report
or other quantitative measures such as the volume of funding
support for these types of research.
In its report, Assessing Research Doctoral
Programs, the NRC provided the strongest rationale for the
inclusion of nursing programs in the taxonomy of programs
to be assessed. In the report, the authors noted that: The
assessment of both the scholarly quality of doctoral programs
and the educational practices of these programs is important
to higher education, its funders, and to society. Research-focused
doctoral programs in nursing are a critical source of new
knowledge for the practice of nursing and for the education
of new nursing professionals who are key and instrumental
providers of health care. The development of new knowledge
and science for the profession of nursing plays a key role
in shaping the delivery of health care in this nation and
our nation's nursing doctoral programs are fundamentally
important to this.
Further, in 2005, the National Academy of
Science released its report Advancing the Nation's Health
Needs, which provides an array of recommendations on
mechanisms necessary to create a strong cadre of nurse scientists.
The report states: "Research training for nurses, as
for other biomedical and behavioral researchers, needs to
occur within strong research-intensive universities and
schools of nursing." The report further identifies
a variety of factors, similar to those assessed through
the NRC process, which must be present to assure excellence
in research training. These include the need for programs
to have a strong cadre of interdisciplinary faculty, a consistent
stream of extramural funding, and a history of robust scholarly
productivity including dissemination through scholarly publications.
Assessment of these factors in research focused doctoral
programs through the NRC process is fundamentally important
to assuring that these factors are present and that a measure
of accountability is provided for these nursing programs
AACN does not engage in review or benchmarking
of these doctoral programs and believes that the inclusion
of nursing in the taxonomy of programs to be assessed will
provide an important external evaluation and also will serve
as a stimulus and a reinforcement of the need to meet community
standards of quality. We also agree with the NRC that review
and assessment using a uniform set of standards - both quantitative
and qualitative - is an effective mechanism for providing
students, faculty, and funders with data that will guide
decisions. Consequently, we believe that inclusion in the
NRC review process is a critically important - and effective
- mechanism for assuring that the increasing number of nursing
doctoral programs meet a national standard of quality and
effectiveness.
AACN noted in the NRC report the assertion
by the committee that the nature of nursing research, which
is often focused upon practice and the improvement of practice,
precludes nursing's inclusion in the taxonomy of program
types to be included in the NRC assessment process. However,
AACN believes that the NRC assessment process examines quantitative
factors and resources critically important to research focused
programs regardless of the nature of the research programs.
Assessment of student qualifications, their time to completion
of studies, the availability of support for accepted students,
and other elements of the NRC review process serve as an
important resource for students seeking to make important
decisions about selection of programs of study. Additionally,
data on faculty characteristics, including information on
their full or part time status, scholarly productivity,
and programs of research are important factors in assessment
of all research focused programs, including nursing. And,
data regarding the institutional characteristics and resources
available to support the operationalization of a nursing
doctoral program will provide an external assessment of
the adequacy of the resources and serve as a benchmark for
institutions desiring to implement new programs.
AACN recognizes the premier role played by
the National Academy of Science, and the NRC, in framing
the nature of scientific work in this nation and believes
that the science of nursing research and the academic programs
designed to create this nation's nurse scientists would
benefit greatly from review and benchmarking by this assessment
process. Therefore, we respectfully request the inclusion
of nursing doctoral programs with a research focus in the
expanded taxonomy of the assessment process. We also offer
our support in development of any specific indicators which
the committee would see as specific to nursing research
and our support in assuring a strong and robust response
from the nursing doctoral programs when this assessment
is conducted. We have provided written copies of these remarks
and have also attached to these a copy of the AACN standards
on research focused doctoral programs and data representing
the enrollment and graduation data for these programs over
the last 15 years. Thank you for this opportunity to testify
and we look forward to answering any questions you may have.
