AACN Seeks Applicants for Nursing Research Grants

Sep 09, 2014

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American Association of Critical-Care Nurses will award up to $160,000 in nursing research grants

Three AACN Impact Research Grants, with funding up to $50,000 each, will be awarded to experienced clinicians, researchers to support inquiry and drive change in high acuity and critical care nursing practice

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. — Sept. 9, 2014 — The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) invites clinicians and researchers to apply for its grants, with awards ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.

This year, AACN makes available $160,000 in research funding, including three Impact Research Grants of $50,000 each, to support inquiry that drives change in high acuity and critical care nursing practice.

Priority projects address gaps in clinical research at the organization or system level and translation of these findings for bedside clinicians.

Initiatives may include technology to achieve optimal patient assessment, management and/or outcomes; healing and humane environments; processes and systems for the optimal contribution of high acuity and critical care nurses; symptom management; and managing outcomes and preventing complications.

AACN has awarded eight Impact Research Grants since 2011. Currently funded research teams are:

  • Identifying models of care for acute care nurse practitioners
  • Implementing and evaluating an education program and screening protocol aimed at preventing ethical conflicts among clinicians
  • Studying ways to confirm correct placement of feeding tubes in critically ill infants
  • Investigating the process of ventilator withdrawal for patients at the end of life
  • Evaluating assessment tools to predict risk for pediatric patients of developing pressure ulcers due to immobility or medical devices
     

Brigit Carter, RN, PhD, MSN, CCRN, assistant clinical professor at Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, North Carolina, recently completed an AACN-funded research project to study feeding intolerance in preterm infants.

Carter and her research team monitored intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) in very low birth weight preterm infants and examined its relationship to early symptoms of feeding intolerance.

The findings could help healthcare providers better adjust feeding volumes, resulting in more rapid postnatal growth, and reducing the length of hospital stay and hospital costs.

“Evidence-based assessment measures, such as those studied by Dr. Carter, enable clinicians to improve care for patients,” said AACN Chief Clinical Officer Connie Barden, RN, MSN, CCRN-E, CCNS. “AACN will continue to invest in supporting research of this caliber as our professional community strives to improve high acuity and critical care nursing practice and outcomes for patients and their families.”

AACN will award up to three $50,000 Impact Research Grants in 2015. The association developed the program to ensure a pipeline for evidence-based resources to guide practice.

AACN continues to offer annually the AACN-Sigma Theta Tau Critical Care Grant with up to $10,000 in funding.

Principal investigators must be current AACN members with either an earned master’s degree or completed candidacy requirements for a doctoral degree. Sigma Theta Tau International members are also eligible to apply for the AACN-STTI grant.

All research grant applications must be submitted online by Oct. 31. Once funded, research projects must be completed within two years.

For more information, including award criteria and supporting documents, visit www.aacn.org/grants, or email research@aacn.org.

About the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses: Founded in 1969 and based in Aliso Viejo, California, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world. AACN joins together the interests of more than 500,000 acute and critical care nurses and claims more than 235 chapters worldwide. The organization’s vision is to create a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and their families in which acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution


American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
101 Columbia
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656-4109

Phone: (949) 362-2000
Fax: (949) 362-2020
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