Nursing School got $5.4 mil. in federal funds in FY 1996

The School of Nursing received federal research grants totaling $5.4 million this fiscal year, the second-highest grant totals awarded and a significant increase from last year's total of $4.3 million, according to data released by the National Institutes of Health. The University of Washington's top-ranked nursing school received $200,000 more than Penn for fiscal year 1996. "People look to Penn to come up with the new answers to problem-solving -- whether it be in biomedical research or how to take care of animals," Nursing Dean Norma Lang said. "We happen to be able to provide the best answers on how to take care of people in hospitals and home care and nursing homes," she added. The high ranking is extremely important to the school, as it prides itself as being a major research institution. "[Research] is a very important part of our Strategic Plan," Assistant Nursing Dean Kristin Davidson said. "It feeds right into what we teach in this school as far as our educational goals go and our practice mission." Nursing's goals include attempting to "increase federal funding for research to capture first place standing nationally in research and research training," according to a strategic plan the school released in January. And Lang noted that Nursing's outstanding faculty generates the high caliber research ideas and methodology needed to put them in good standing for grant awards. Nursing's research projects include efforts to reduce the risk of AIDS among minority women and children, help patients who have recently been released from the hospital recover from surgery at home, examine how hospitals care for AIDS patients and investigate the effects of hospital restructuring on patient care. "In all of those areas, how to take care of people who are chronically ill and the elderly is probably a major issue of the future," said Lang, adding that the school is studying ways to help cancer patients deal with physiological and stress issues. Lang and Davidson both emphasized the importance of student involvement in the school's ongoing research initiatives. Davidson explained that all students -- whether at the undergraduate, graduate or Ph.D. level -- have the opportunity to take part in faculty research. Some students are even permitted to conduct their own research or accompany professors on projects in other countries. "We've had many faculty members who involve students in the writing up of projects," she added. Davidson said getting its professors published is of great importance to the Nursing School, noting that articles in peer-review journals have allowed the school to achieve its current status as one of the nation's best nursing education programs. But the role of federal funding can hardly be overemphasized for the school. "[It is] absolutely essential," the dean explained. "We couldn't do our research without federal funding." Looking towards the future, the School of Nursing has set itself on a path linking research and classroom teaching. "We continue to recruit and maintain the best faculty and the best students, and that's what's going to make it happen," Lang said.