2011 Call for Proposals—Round 3 Brief Proposal Deadline
November 16, 2011
Evaluating Innovations in
Nursing Education
Program Overview
(For complete details, refer to specific pages/sections noted below.) Purpose
Evaluating Innovations in Nursing Education (EIN) is inviting applications for research projects studying nursing faculty issues that are critical to achieving the recommendations outlined in the 2010 Institute of Medicine report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Consistent with EIN’s mission, projects will typically address teaching productivity and faculty preparation in nursing education for meeting the demands of a reformed health care and public health system. Findings should inform strategies for addressing the nurse faculty shortage while expanding the nurse workforce and maintaining or improving student outcomes.
Total Awards ■
■ Up to $1.8 million in grants will be awarded in this round of funding. ■
■ Grants of up to $100,000 might support case studies, scans of existing programs or determinants of best practices.
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■ Grants of up to $300,000 might support survey research or controlled evaluations. ■
■ All grants will be 24 months in duration or shorter. Eligibility Criteria
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■ We welcome applications that draw on the expertise of researchers from nursing and other health sciences, the social sciences, and other relevant disciplines.
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■ Eligible applicant organizations include academic institutions, health care organizations and research firms.
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■ Preference will be given to those applicants who are either public entities or nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. ■
■ Researchers working on the proposed project must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its territories.
Selection Criteria (page 10)
Complete selection criteria can be found on page 10. Key Dates and Deadlines
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■ October 6, 2011 (1 p.m.–3 p.m. ET)—Optional applicant webinar. Registration is required. Please visit the program’s website for complete details and to register. ■
■ November 16, 2011 (3 p.m. ET)—Deadline for receipt of brief proposals. ■
■ December 5, 2011—Notification of invitation to submit full proposals. ■
■ February 1, 2012 (3 p.m. ET)—Deadline for receipt of full proposals. ■
■ March 16, 2012—Notification of follow-up questions to be addressed in addendum to full proposal.
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■ April 10, 2012 (3 p.m. ET)—Deadline for receipt of addendum to proposal. ■
■ May 2, 2012—Notification of funding decision. ■
■ July 9, 2012—Project start date. How to Apply
Proposals for this solicitation must be submitted via the RWJF online system. Visit
www.rwjf.org/cfp/ein and use the Apply Online link for this solicitation. You will be required to register at http://my.rwjf.org before you begin the application process. Please direct inquiries to:
Joanne Fuccello, deputy director Phone: (848) 932-4670
Background The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 2010 report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health challenges the nursing profession to offer optimal education and training to meet the demands of a reformed health care and public health system. Achievement of five of its eight recommendations will depend upon significant changes in the capacity and scope of nursing education. These recommendations include: increasing the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by 2020; doubling the number of nurses with a doctorate by 2020; implementing nurse residency programs; ensuring that nurses engage in lifelong learning; and preparing and enabling nurses to lead change to advance health. For a presentation of the full set of recommendations, see http://thefutureofnursing.org/recommendations. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is committed to addressing the challenges facing the nursing profession. The Foundation’s programs seek to ensure that our nation has enough well-prepared nurses from diverse backgrounds to meet our current and future needs. Central to these efforts, RWJF commissioned the IOM report on the future of nursing and is supporting the Campaign for Action, a collaborative effort that seeks to improve the quality of patient care by fully utilizing the expertise and experience of nurses—the largest segment of the U.S. health care workforce—and by enhancing their skills and capabilities. Furthering this commitment, Evaluating Innovations in Nursing Education (EIN) will fund research projects that illuminate issues relating to teaching productivity and faculty preparation that must be resolved to achieve the IOM recommendations. One pressing issue is the acute nurse faculty shortage. Nursing schools turn away thousands of qualified applicants, in part because there are not enough faculty members available to teach them (AACN 2009); preliminary data indicate that during the past year, those numbers increased by 25 percent (AACN 2010). The current EIN call for proposals
seeks to address gaps in requisite knowledge for achieving the IOM recommendations in light of the current faculty shortage.
The Program Consistent with EIN’s mission, projects will address aspects of teaching productivity and faculty preparation in nursing education for meeting the demands of a reformed health care and public health system. Findings should inform strategies for addressing the nurse faculty shortage while expanding the nurse workforce and maintaining or improving student outcomes.
Up to $1.8 million will be awarded during this round of funding for studies of up to 24 months in duration. Two tiers of funding will be considered. Grants of up to $100,000 might support case studies, scans of existing programs or determinants of best practices. Grants of up to $300,000 might support survey research or controlled evaluations.
We seek studies whose findings will directly inform strategies to prepare faculty to educate nurses for roles in the reformed health care and public health system envisioned in the IOM report; improve recruitment of faculty by better understanding barriers and facilitators (e.g., differentials in salary and status) and developing incentives for addressing them; and optimize use of existing faculty expertise to expand teaching capacity and enhance quality. Examples of specific topics and research questions that merit attention include but are not limited to:
Preparation of faculty to teach second-degree students in accelerated pre-licensure programs. Second degree students constitute an increasing proportion of pre-licensure graduates. Their success in clinical roles, as well as progressing to advanced training, may depend upon whether their education addresses their distinctive status and needs.
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■ In what ways do differences between second-degree and traditional students warrant distinctive teaching strategies? Do second-degree students have unique needs that are not effectively met by traditional didactic strategies?
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■ Are academic faculty members generally prepared to adopt these strategies in teaching second-degree students?
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■ How does the field of the first degree appear to affect the student’s experience in the nursing program and career plans?
Possible Approach: To improve upon existing anecdotal reports, this project would require an empirical study of faculty and students from a representative sample of programs and a systematic approach to projecting the implications for teaching.
The role of academic faculty in to-MSN or RN-to-BSN programs. Providing existing registered nurses further didactic education is an efficient way to increase their competence and qualify them to continue their education to receive advanced degrees. The potential for launching high-volume programs outside of the typical academic milieu compels attention to strategies for assuring their quality. ■
■ Does the suitability of online instruction for these programs introduce distinctive challenges to academic faculty? Are there particular program configurations and faculty roles that are likely to promote quality of education?
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■ Do the distinctive characteristics of students warrant special teaching strategies to be effective?
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■ Do current faculty members teaching in these programs differ from those teaching in more
traditional programs? If so, are there implications that deserve attention?
Possible Approach: systematic study of representative programs.
Role of academic nurse faculty in interprofessional education. The IOM report recommends that schools of nursing promote interprofessional collaboration, particularly among students in medicine and nursing, by designing joint classroom and clinical training opportunities. Among many other factors, faculty readiness to address the challenges of implementing effective interdisciplinary education will be central to its success.
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■ What segments of the nursing curriculum offer viable contexts for interprofessional education for students in nursing and medicine (e.g., clinical simulation, population health)?
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■ How does faculty participation in interprofessional education affect teaching productivity? How does it affect faculty workload, perceived burden and satisfaction?
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■ Are there distinctive competencies essential for faculty to lead effective interprofessional education? ■
■ What lessons for faculty can be learned from previous initiatives in interprofessional education [e.g., RWJF’s Partnerships for Quality Education—Collaborative Interdisciplinary Team Education (CITE); Hartford Foundation’s Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training (GITT) Program; Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation’s Interprofessional Education and Teamwork Program]? Possible Approach: case studies of exemplary
programs (including students in nursing and medicine, as well as additional disciplines such as pharmacy and social work).
Career decision-making among doctoral students (PhD, as well as DNP) in nursing. Expanding the roles of nurses in key areas of health care—envisioned by the IOM recommendations, as well as provisions adopted under the Affordable Care Act—will require greater faculty capacity to prepare the workforce but may also exacerbate the faculty shortage by increasing the attractiveness of career alternatives for doctoral-prepared nurses. A greater understanding of
considerations that influence career decision-making among advanced doctoral students will be critical in addressing this prospect.
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■ What are their career aspirations? ■
■ What are their previous experiences? What contributes to their decisions about their future role? What are their outlooks on joining a nursing faculty? ■
■ How much of their education is dedicated to preparing them to perform teaching roles? Possible Approach: survey of doctoral students. Identifying programs and students, as well as
promoting attention to the findings, may benefit from sponsorship of appropriate professional organizations. Strategies for addressing disparities in nurse faculty salaries to improve recruitment and retention efforts. Fulfillment of the IOM committee recommendations, as well as workforce provisions of health care reform— promoting practice of nurses in roles that require the full extent of their education and training—will depend upon capacity of faculty to prepare nurses for those roles. However, salary differentials that exist between nurse faculty and nurses working in those new roles may intensify the faculty shortage and undermine efforts to realize the goals of these initiatives. ■
■ How do nurse faculty salaries compare to those of nurses in other roles requiring comparable preparation? ■
■ How do nurse faculty salaries compare to those of academic faculty teaching in other professional schools?
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■ Are there models for faculty compensation in other fields that may merit application to nursing to promote faculty recruitment?
Possible Approach: Assemble data and conduct a comparative analysis of salaries of nurse faculty, nurses in other roles and faculty in other fields. Explore the likely impact of different compensation strategies on faculty recruitment.
Effectiveness of strategies for leveraging the expertise of existing faculty to teach more doctoral or undergraduate students in nursing. Lack of expertise to offer specific, essential courses in established doctoral programs and insufficient capacity to expand undergraduate offerings to meet the needs of qualified undergraduate students may impede student progress, constrain admissions, distort the match between faculty capabilities and the courses they teach, and/or diminish the quality of faculty work life. Sharing faculty resources across universities through online graduate courses that address gaps in offerings to on-campus students offers one remedy, as does sharing desktop simulations or other critical teaching modules incorporated into the curricula of existing undergraduate courses.
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■ How do consortia or similar arrangements for sharing courses affect progression of doctoral students? ■
■ How does use of online modules in undergraduate courses affect undergraduate enrollments?
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■ How does either strategy affect faculty productivity, satisfaction and other aspects of work life?
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■ Is there an impact on quality of education?
Possible Approach: controlled evaluation of large-scale consortia programs.
Preparation of staff nurses to serve as clinical preceptors in a clinical education model for pre-licensure degree students. Constraints on capacity to provide quality clinical education for pre-licensure students serve as a bottleneck to producing more nurses. Reliance upon staff nurses as preceptors is increasingly considered by schools as a potential solution, but there is widespread concern about adequate preparation for this role. ■
■ What does effective preparation entail? How is it offered and by whom? How might clinical and academic nurses effectively collaborate in designing and implementing this preparation?
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■ Is there evidence of an association between particular clinical preceptor arrangements and patient safety or quality of care? If so, does preceptor preparation support these arrangements?
Possible Approach: descriptive study based on comprehensive survey and analysis of programs.
Eligibility Criteria ■ We welcome applications that draw on the expertise of researchers from nursing and other health sciences, the social sciences, and other relevant disciplines. Eligible applicant organizations include academic institutions, health care organizations and research firms.
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■ Preference may be given to those organizations that are either public entities or nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
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■ Researchers working on the proposed project must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its territories.
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■ Only one grant during this round of funding may be awarded to an applicant institution.
Consistent with RWJF values, the EIN program embraces diversity and inclusion across multiple dimensions such as race, ethnicity, gender, age and disadvantaged socioeconomic status. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who will help expand the perspectives and experiences we bring to our work. We believe that the more we include diverse perspectives and experiences in our work, the better we are able to help all Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need.
Selection Criteria ■ The strength and clarity of the logic linking expected findings from the proposed research to specific strategies for achieving one or more of the IOM report recommendations.
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■ The significance of the research questions. ■
■ The strength of the research design in addressing the research questions, including the suitability and size of the sample(s); the appropriateness of measures; the capacity for successful data collection; the rigor of the analysis plan and the generalizability of the findings. ■
■ For program evaluations: the adequacy of the scale of implementation of the program for supporting a controlled evaluation.
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■ The promise of the dissemination plan in assuring that the findings will be timely and accessible to those who seek to implement the IOM report recommendations.
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■ The suitability of the budget (e.g., whether choice of the small- or larger-grant option is appropriate in view of the likely yield from the study).
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■ The relevance of the expertise and experience of the research team.
Human Subjects EIN will broadly disseminate findings of funded
Approval and studies with attribution to responsible investigators
Grant Monitoring and institutions. Grantees will be expected to contribute to multistudy publications as appropriate and author individual reports of their findings. Grantees will be expected to incorporate EIN
program-wide measures in their studies, if appropriate, to broaden the context for interpretation. All finalists invited to submit full proposals must provide letters from the relevant Institutional Review Board(s) by February 22, 2012 indicating that their studies are under review. Review board(s) must confirm eligibility for exempt status.
Grantees are expected to meet RWJF requirements for the submission of narrative and financial reports, as well as periodic information needed for monitoring overall project performance and management.
Investigators will be required to participate in periodic meetings and provide progress reports on their research. At the close of each grant, we will require a written report on the project and its findings suitable for wide dissemination.
Use of Grant Funds Grant funds may be used for project salaries,
consultant fees, data collection and analysis, meetings, supplies, project-related travel and other direct project expenses, including a limited amount of equipment essential to the project. Grantees must budget funds for attendance at two EIN national meetings— generally two days in length. In keeping with RWJF policy, grant funds may not be used to subsidize individuals for the cost of their health care, to support clinical trials of unapproved drugs or devices, to construct or renovate facilities, for lobbying, for political activities, or as a substitute for funds currently being used to support similar activities.
How to Apply Proposals for this solicitation must be submitted via the RWJF online system. Visit www.rwjf.org/cfp/ein and use the Apply Online link for this solicitation. You will be required to register at http://my.rwjf.org before you begin the application process.
All applicants should log in to the system and familiarize themselves with online submission requirements well before the final submission deadline. Staff may not be able to assist all applicants in the final 24 hours before the submission deadline. In fairness to all applicants, the program will not accept late submissions.
There are two stages in the application process: 1) applicants submit a brief proposal posing the research question(s) and outlining the research strategy; and, if invited; 2) selected applicants then submit a full proposal and line-item budget for further consideration.
Stage 1: Brief Proposals
The seven-page brief proposal requires: a description of the significance of the research questions and logic linking the aims with strategies for achieving specific IOM report recommendations; an overview of the research methods, including the nature and size of the sample(s), key variables, data collection strategy, and analysis plan; dissemination plans for assuring that the findings are accessible to those pursuing implementation of the IOM recommendations; qualifications of the researchers; and a preliminary budget.
These requirements are further detailed in the application template, which is accessible upon registering for the RWJF online system. An optional applicant webinar will be convened on October 6, 2011 (1 p.m.–3 p.m. ET). Registration is required: Please visit the EIN website for complete details and registration, www.evaluatinginnovationsinnursing.org.
Stage 2: Full Proposals
If invited, select applicants will need to submit a full proposal, including a comprehensive account of the research aims and their significance; the research methods; specific plans for assuring that the findings inform strategies to advance one or more of the IOM report recommendations; relevant expertise and experience of the researcher(s); and a detailed budget and budget narrative.
Based on the review by the national advisory committee and the national program office (NPO), finalists may be asked to respond to specific questions about the project and methodology in an addendum to the full proposal.
For more information on the program and proposal requirements, please contact:
Joanne Fuccello, deputy director
Evaluating Innovations in Nursing Education Phone: (848) 932-4670
Email: info@evaluatinginnovationsinnursing.org RWJF does not provide individual critiques of submitted proposals. The EIN national advisory committee makes recommendations about grants to Foundation staff. RWJF will make all final grant decisions.
Program Direction Direction and technical assistance for this program are provided by the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University, which serves as the NPO. They are located at:
Rutgers Center for State Health Policy 112 Paterson Street, 5th Floor
New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Phone: (848) 932-4670 Fax: (732) 932-0069
Email: info@evaluatinginnovationsinnursing.org Website: www.evaluatinginnovationsinnursing.org Responsible staff members at the national program office are:
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■ Michael Yedidia, PhD, director ■
■ Joanne Fuccello, MSW, deputy director
Responsible staff members at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are:
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■ Nancy Wieler Fishman, MPH, BSN, senior program officer
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■ David M. Krol, MD, MPH, team director and senior program officer
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National Advisory Christine A. Tanner, PhD, RN, FAAN, Chair
Committee A.B. Youmans-Spaulding Distinguished Professor Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR
Janis P. Bellack, PhD, RN, FAAN President
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Institute of Health Professions
Boston, MA
Julie Beshore Bliss, EdD, RN
Professor and Chair, Department of Nursing William Paterson University College of Science and Health
Wayne, NJ
Colleen Gillespie, PhD
Assistant Professor, Division of General Internal Medicine
New York University School of Medicine New York, NY
Pamela M. Ironside, PhD, RN, FAAN Director of the Center for Research in Nursing Education
Indiana University School of Nursing Indianapolis, IN
Kathy Mayle, MNEd, MBA, RN
Director, Center for Health Care Diversity Duquesne University School of Nursing Pittsburgh, PA
Jack Needleman, PhD, FAAN
Associate Professor, Department of Health Services University of California, Los Angeles, School of Public Health
Darrell R. Spurlock, PhD, RN Assistant Professor
Mount Carmel College of Nursing Columbus, OH
Barbara Stewart, PhD Professor Emerita
Oregon Health & Science University School of Nursing
Portland, OR
Cynthia S. Teel, PhD, RN Associate Dean, Graduate Programs University of Kansas School of Nursing Kansas City, KS
Theresa Valiga, EdD, RN, FAAN
Clinical Professor and Director, Institute for Educational Excellence
Duke University School of Nursing Durham, NC
Timetable ■October 6, 2011 (1 p.m.–3 p.m. ET)
Optional applicant webinar. See details on the program’s website at www.evaluatinginnovationsinnursing.org. Registration is required.
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■November 16, 2011 (3 p.m. ET) Deadline for receipt of brief proposals.* ■
■December 5, 2011
Notification of invitation to submit full proposals. ■
■February 1, 2012 (3 p.m. ET) Deadline for receipt of full proposals.* ■
■March 16, 2012
Notification of follow-up questions to be addressed in addendum to full proposals.
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■April 10, 2012 (3 p.m. ET)
Deadline for receipt of addendum to full proposals.* ■
■May 2, 2012
Notification of funding decision. ■
■July 9, 2012 Project start date.
* All proposals must be submitted via the RWJF online system. All applicants should log in to the system and familiarize themselves with online submission requirements well before the final submission deadline. Staff may not be able to assist all applicants in the final 24 hours before the submission deadline. In fairness to all applicants, the program will not accept late submissions.
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About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, measurable and timely change.
For nearly 40 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime.
For more information visit www.rwjf.org.
