Volume 1, Issue 1 – Summer 2007

In this issue:

Letter from the Chair
Council Promotion
2008 State of the Science Update
Research! America Updates
CDC Publishes Advancing the Nation’s Health: A Guide to Public Health Research Needs, 2006-2015
AAN News

Letter from the Chair Dear Council Members and Friends, On behalf of the Steering Committee of the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science, I am pleased to welcome you to our first quarterly newsletter. We hope to use this electronic communication to stay in touch with you, share research and programmatic opportunities, and increase the speed of information exchange among the nursing science community. For those of you who are new to our organization, the Council is an open membership council of the American Academy of Nursing. We welcome as members all those persons and organizations interested in the mission of the Council, "Better Health through Nursing Science." In the last few years the Council has evolved with a formal structure and function that places us in a position to realize our mission. We are grateful to our many supporters, beginning with the American Academy of Nursing and the National Institute of Nursing Research, and followed by a long line of nursing organizations who have invested in our mission and helped us get on our collective feet. Now it is time for us to move forward to increase our numbers and influence so that the voice of nursing science is heard throughout the nation and globe. We hope that you are encouraging your colleagues and students to join the Council, become part of our important mission, and participate in the generation of new science. The Council and its constituent partners have developed a series of grants to support nursing science across the continuum of scientific development in student investigators as well as senior scientists. This support takes the form of dissertation grants given jointly with the regional research societies, a $25,000 grant given jointly with the American Nurses Foundation, and an awards program to honor our most productive scientists at the State of the Science Congresses. Future plans to include joint grant programs with other nursing organizations and a Council fellowship program to provide support for senior scientists who devote a portion of their time solely to nursing science. Our most exciting upcoming event is the 2007 Special Topics Conference, which will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D. C., on October 24, 2007, followed in the evening by the annual Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research NightinGala. The conference topic, Practice-Based Evidence: Another Side of the Knowledge Development Coin, is a stimulating opportunity to discuss practice-based evidence as a complementary paradigm to evidence-based practice as a method to generate knowledge. Read a letter from Program Co-Chairs, Drs. Nancy Bergstrom and Marcelline Harris, that describes the innovative conference. Ready to register? Register by September 1, 2007 for the early bird rate. Follow this link: http://www.nursingscience.org/meetings/conference2007/registration/ In short, this is an exciting time to be part of the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science. We celebrate your participation and need your support. I look forward to communicating with you regularly as we work together to raise the profile of nursing science. See you on October 24 in Washington, D.C.! Sincerely, Marilyn (Lynn) S. Sommers, PhD, RN, FAAN Chair, Steering Committee, Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science [email protected]

Council Promotion On April 25, 2007 the National Institutes of Health sponsored an Open House Workshop for the Behavioral and Social Sciences Study Sections. A summary letter is available at http://www.nursingscience.org/membership/nih_center.asp. Please note that in the original letter, Dr. Deborah Gross (Rush University), Chair of the Nursing Science Children and Families Study Section, was not acknowledged as a panel member and participant. Help us reach our 2008 Membership Goal. Currently our membership stands at approximately 600 members, and we would like to reach 1,000 members by the State of the Science Congress in 2008. If you are a member of any of our constituent partner organizations (see below), membership is $50 per year or $125 for 3 years. Student memberships (but not post-doctoral fellows) are $25/year. Regular membership is $100/year. The membership link is: http://www.nursingscience.org/membership/ The Presidents, Directors, or the designees/appointees of our constituent partners or parent organization form the membership of the Council. Links to their websites are below: American Academy of Nursing: http://www.aannet.org/ National Institute of Nursing Research: http://www.ninr.nih.gov/ American Nursing Foundation: http://www.nursingworld.org/anf/ Eastern Nursing Research Society: http://www.enrs-go.org/ Midwest Nursing Research Society: http://www.mnrs.org Southern Nursing Research Society: http://www.snrs.org/ Western Institute of Nursing: http://www.ohsu.edu/son/win/ Sigma Theta Tau International: http://www.nursingsociety.org/

Research! America Updates Through the American Academy of Nursing’s membership of Research!America, the Council remains in communication with this national organization. Research!America is the nation’s largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance working to make research to improve health a higher national priority. Founded in 1989, Research!America is supported by more than 500 member organizations that represent the voices of more than 125 million Americans. Member organizations such as the Academy represent stakeholders in basic, behavioral, biotech, clinical, health services, prevention and public health, and therapeutic research from both the public and private sectors. The Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science and the Academy have partnered with Research!America and the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation on Your Congress-Your Health, on an important new initiative creating a dialogue between Congress and the public with regards to medical and health research, health care and innovation. Follow this link to read the news release about this partnership with the Council: http://www.nursingscience.org/membership/research_america.asp

CDC Publishes Advancing the Nation’s Health: A Guide to Public Health Research Needs, 2006-2015 Advancing the Nation’s Health: A Guide to Public Health Research Needs, 2006-2015 (Research Guide) is now available to CDC staff and partners. The Research Guide provides a comprehensive, long-range vision of national and global public health needs that CDC and its partners can address through research. The Research Guide helps identify critical knowledge needed to achieve CDC’s new Health Protection Goals which are designed to maximize the health impact of programs, services, and emergency responses. PLEASE VISIT THE ADDRESS BELOW TO VIEW THE RESEARCH GUIDE AND COMMENTS ON THE PUBLIC COMMENT DRAFT: http://www.cdc.gov/OD/science/PHResearch/cdcra/index.htm

AAN News Greetings from the President Welcome to the first Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science electronic newsletter. We are pleased to join your chair, steering committee, and Academy board liaison in providing you with an efficient communication vehicle. The electronic newsletter will be used to provide information, solicit feedback and recommendations, and bring you breaking news regarding the Council’s activities and the scientific community. I applaud your steering committee for creating a communication vehicle to engage you and keep you connected to the Council. The American Academy of Nursing is pleased to serve as the host organization for the Council, which has an open membership for all individuals and organizations interested in supporting nursing science. We believe that it will help the profession and the scientific community advance the work of nurse scientists in improving the health of our nation. The Academy’s mission and the Council’s strategic goals are linked together as we seek to provide evidence for the purpose of improving policy and practice. The Academy will be soliciting your support in numerous ways through the newsletter regarding activities and programs of the Academy that are open to the general nursing community. It is our hope that you will share the newsletter with your colleagues and encourage their feedback. I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming 2007 Special Topics Conference, Practice-Based Evidence: The Other Side of the Knowledge Development Coin, on October 24, 2007 in Washington, D.C. Sincerely, Linda Burnes Bolton, DrPH, RN, FAAN President, American Academy of Nursing