School of Nursing Guide

The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) is one of 27 Institutes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the nation’s medical research agency. NINR believes that nursing research is the key to unlocking the power and potential of nursing by leveraging nursing’s strengths and unique knowledge and perspectives inherent to the discipline to the benefit of all people.   

NINR prioritizes research framed through five lenses

NINR identified five complementary and synergistic research lenses that best leverage the strengths of nursing research and promote multilevel approaches, cross-disciplinary and -sectoral collaboration, and community engagement in research. The research lenses are: 

• Health Equity
• Social Determinants of Health
• Population and Community Health
• Prevention and Health Promotion
• Systems and Models of Care

The National Institute of Nursing Research 2022–2026 Strategic Plan

The National Institute of Nursing Research 2022–2026 Strategic Plan outlines the Institute’s vision for supporting science that advances our mission: to lead nursing research to solve pressing health challenges and inform practice and policy—optimizing health and advancing health equity into the future.

Nurses are crucial to solving the Nation’s most pressing and persistent health challenges. As both the largest health profession and the largest of all professions in the Nation, nurses are the backbone of our health systems in the United States and have ranked as the most trusted profession for 20 years in a row. Nurses interact with individuals and families more closely than other health professionals in the many clinical, community, and policy settings in which they work; thus, they have a deep understanding of the personal and societal factors that lead to health among some, and illness among others. NINR believes that nursing research is the key to unlocking the power and potential of nursing by leveraging these strengths and unique knowledge and perspectives inherent to the discipline to the benefit of all people.

Nursing’s earliest pioneers recognized that health must be considered within the context of people’s lives and living conditions. Florence Nightingale was one of the first to recognize and address the connection between health and environmental elements, such as ventilation and warming, clean air and water, noise pollution, and provision of light. Lillian Wald saw nurses as working at the intersection of medicine and society to care for individuals, families, and communities in the context of social, economic, and industrial conditions. Nurses continue to build on this rich history through nurse-led efforts to address intensifying inequities and social determinants of health.

This strategic plan describes how NINR will support scientific programs, training, and policies that both move the nursing research field forward and maximize the impact of our science through good stewardship of public funds. The plan includes our Director’s overview, research framework, stewardship plan, development process, and frequently asked questions. The changes from prior plans are intentional and were made in recognition that our science needs to continue to innovate. As a living document, this plan will allow NINR to respond nimbly to evolving and emerging health issues facing our Nation.