Socializing students toward a career in nursing research

As the number of students entering nursing programs declines and as graduate education focuses on advanced practice, the number of undergraduates who aspire to careers as nurse researchers is seriously compromised. This article describes three examples of how undergraduate nursing students at a historically black college and university were cultivated as future researchers through focused research experiences. The first project employed faculty-student collaboration with a community coalition on environmental justice. Students increased their awareness of environmental health and large-scale survey methodology by participating in a telephone survey of community residents. The second project, a replication of an earlier study, determined compliance with a health advisory and awareness of contamination in the fish supply among persons fishing in a contaminated river. The project was extended in a second course and focused on student-faculty preparation of manuscripts. The third project was a pilot program to foster research as a career among nurses from minority groups. Through a partnership with a research-intensive university, a six-week summer research immersion experience was created for undergraduate nursing students. The impact on the nursing programs and on the intended career pathways of students is described.

Duke Scholars

Author Dorothy Lewis Powell School of Nursing