As healthcare systems grapple with workforce shortages, rising patient complexity, and the demand for better outcomes, nursing research has emerged as a crucial driver of innovation and quality improvement. Nurse-led research is increasingly shaping bedside care, policy decisions, and organizational strategy.
Health systems are striving to retain experienced staff and advance evidence-based practice. In this context, nurse scientists are not a luxury, but a necessity, according to Kathryn Connell, PhD, RN, CCRN, who is an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a practicing nurse scientist.
Tipton Health spoke with Connell about a recent Stat News op-ed, in which Connell and fellow researchers argue that nurse scientists should not have to choose between clinical practice and research. Dual roles are among the greatest contributors to advancing the nursing profession and improving patient care. She advocates for stronger infrastructure, better partnerships, and a new vision for clinical inquiry.
The Motivation Behind the Message
Connell’s reasoning for proposing dual roles of clinically based nurse researchers stems from her belief in how this approach could advance nursing as a profession.
“Medicine conceptualizes the physician scientist as an individual concurrently engaged in clinical practice and research. Nursing has not uniformly adopted this integrated paradigm for its scientists. The more traditional definition positions the nurse scientist in a hospital-based capacity, primarily supporting research, evidence-based practice, or quality improvement initiatives, often without the embedded expertise of current clinical practice at the unit level,” she explained.
Without maintaining consistent hands-on clinical experience, Connell believes research may not always be grounded in the clinical reality that bedside nurses face each day. She suggests that integrated roles split between multiple settings can bring value across various specialty areas.
The Dual Challenge: Patient Care and Research
Balancing frontline nursing demands with clinical research presents persistent challenges since immediate patient needs require budgetary precedence. This makes it difficult for nurse scientists to secure staffing support and administrative backing for research activities. However, Connell believes implementing innovative strategies to integrate nurse scientist roles with clinical practice is possible.
Currently, she works three to four days a month in clinical practice while holding a full-time faculty position. Though acknowledging this specific arrangement is not sustainable long-term, it’s a path she’s chosen to ensure her research remains focused on bedside realities.
“My role as a nurse researcher necessitates a grounding in current clinical realities. Without it, the question arises: what distinct value do I provide? A short period removed from clinical duties can lead to a disconnect from the nuanced experiences at the bedside. Consequently, my active engagement in practice directly enhances and expands my collaborative opportunities with diverse health professions,” she expanded.
Dual roles require leadership support that empowers nurses to explore clinical questions and contribute to systemic improvement without compromising patient care. These integrated positions help create a culture where intellectual curiosity and clinical excellence go hand in hand.
Magnet Designation, Research, and Advocacy in Action
ANCC Magnet® designation is considered the gold standard for nursing excellence, with research as a core component. Research directly contributes to evidence-based practice, innovation, and professional development.
To earn the Magnet designation, organizations must engage nurses in actively generating and applying research to improve patient outcomes. Research doesn’t just fulfill a Magnet requirement; it reflects a culture of strengthened clinical results driven by bedside nursing expertise.
Organizations aiming to build nursing research capacity should begin with small but strategic steps, building alliances with administration, quality improvement teams, and academic institutions. Creating collaborative roles between university academia and healthcare can reduce challenges and serve as a frontline tool to solve real-world problems.
“When we’re developing innovations for the care space or deploying artificial intelligence tools into healthcare, they should be designed for nurses, by nurses. I think that’s the mindset shift we need to think about,” Connell stated.
She believes that incorporating a dual role approach to nursing research and clinical practice is ultimately essential to producing results guided by real-world practice and meaningful goals in practical situations.
“This would be a synergistic combination, ensuring that projects consider clinical reality and are completed by nurses working at the hospital,” she said, explaining more of the benefits of integrated researcher and clinical nurse roles.
Strengthening the Education Pipeline
To grow a pipeline of nurse scientists, educational reform must begin early and intentionally. There is great importance in integrating research literacy and inquiry-based learning into undergraduate nursing curricula. This includes not just teaching how to interpret studies but also how to design and lead them. Clinical placements with embedded research components can help demystify the role of the nurse scientist.
“Nursing education must be more research-based, with educators maintaining a direct, hands-on connection to clinical practice. Many bedside nurses naturally approach problems with a researcher’s mindset, yet we often fail to empower them to lead in these capacities. Recognizing and fostering this inherent skill is a critical step in elevating the nursing profession and meeting Magnet standards,” Connell concluded.
Collaboration between nursing schools and hospital systems creates a powerful model for advancing nurse-led research, allowing academic faculty to remain clinically engaged while providing practicing nurses with access to research mentorship and resources. Aligning academic priorities with system-level goals encourages relevant studies that improve patient outcomes.
Take the First Step to Fostering Nursing Research at Your Institution
Nursing research is more than professional enrichment, it’s a catalyst for improving care, informing policy, and advancing the healthcare system. When academic and hospital systems support nurse-led inquiry, they empower the profession to shape the future of patient care. Investing in nurse scientists today is an investment in better outcomes tomorrow.
As healthcare systems evolve, so must the commitment to the research that drives progress. When you have questions about how to incorporate nurse scientists and research leadership in your organization, call Tipton Health for a consultation and discover the steps you can take that lead to Magnet designation.
We are excited to announce that Tipton Health is now offering the opportunity to disseminate research studies externally through our Nursing Connections newsletter! This is an opportunity to share research study abstracts, posters, links to the full research write up (if available), and even to use our publication as evidence in your NK4 example for disseminating a research study externally! If you are interested in this opportunity, ensure that you get approval from your director or chief nursing officer to provide your research abstract. We will then send you a template including the information we’ll need for publication and how to structure the abstract. Contact us at magnet@tiptonhealth.com