The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), as part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, supports clinical and basic research to establish a scientific basis for the

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

care of individuals across the life span—from management of

patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by Health professional, healthcare professionals. The patient is most often Disease, ill or Major trauma, injured and in need of therapy, treatment by a physician, nurse, op ...

s during illness and recovery, to the reduction of risks for disease and disability, and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.

History

Federal involvement in nursing research can be traced back to 1946, with the establishment of the Division of Nursing within the Office of the

Surgeon General Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

, Public Health Service. In 1955, the first extramural nursing research program was established in the Research Grants and Fellowship Branch of the Division of Nursing Resources, Bureau of Medical Services. At this same time, the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH) established the Nursing Research Study Section within the Division of Research Grants to conduct scientific review of the growing volume of applications in this area. In 1960,

public health nursing Public health nursing, also known as community health nursing is a nursing specialty focused on public health. The term was coined by Lillian Wald of the Henry Street Settlement, or, Public health nurses (PHNs) or community health nurses "integr ...

services were consolidated to form a new Division of Nursing in the Bureau of State Services, whose successor is now within the

Health Resources and Services Administration The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland. It is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care service ...

(HRSA) – the agency responsible for clinical training in the health care professions. The initial and continuing goal of federal support was to build a foundation for nursing research. During this time, many academic institutions established predoctoral and

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

ship programs to train independent nurse investigators. Nursing research programs were also funded and research information was exchanged across the country. The impetus for establishing the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) came from the findings of two federal studies. A 1983 report by the

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

recommended that nursing research be included in the mainstream of

biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

and

behavioral Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as well as the inanimate p ...

science, and a 1984 NIH Task Force study found nursing research activities to be relevant to the NIH mission. These findings resulted in legislative action that established the National Center for Nursing Research (NCNR) at NIH in April 1986. The Center later became an NIH Institute with the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 and a Federal Register notice on June 14 of that year – both actions formally changing the NCNR to the NINR. Dr. Patricia A. Grady served as director of NINR from 1995 to 2018. Dr. Shannon Zenk became Director of NINR in September 2020. Shannon Zenk was placed on administrative leave as part of the Health and Human Services Department’s massive layoffs in April, 2025

Directors

Past directors from 1986 - present

Notable people

* Ann K. Cashion, acting director, NINR, 2018–2019 * Jessica Gill, acting deputy director, NINR, 2019–2020 * Patricia A. Grady, director, NINR, 1995–2018 * Marguerite Littleton Kearney, director, NINR Division of Extramural Science Programs, 2015–present * Ada Sue Hinshaw, director, NINR, 1987–1994 * Tara A. Schwetz, acting director, NINR, 2020 * Shannon N. Zenk, director, NINR, 2020-present * Ora L. Strickland, Founding member, NINR

Notes and references

External links

* {{authority control Nursing Research Nursing organizations in the United States Medical research institutes in Maryland