Agency News and Notes

AHRQ provides many funding opportunities for nursing research

Contributions from nurse researchers to health services research are critically important, note Beth A. Collins Sharp, Ph.D., R.N., Health Scientist Administrator, and Heddy Hubbard, M.P.H., R.N., Senior Advisor for Nursing, Center for Outcomes and Evidence, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In a recent article with Cheryl Bland Jones, formerly at AHRQ, and currently at the University or North Carolina at Chapel Hill, they outline AHRQ funding opportunities for nursing.

Although AHRQ's grant review and funding generally follows the same peer review process as that of the National Institutes of Health, the AHRQ process is distinctive in several ways. For example, research applications submitted to AHRQ should reflect the Agency's focus on health services, patient outcomes, and translation of research into practice and policy. There is a new emphasis on research translation activities that applies to all applications submitted to AHRQ. Examples of translation products include publications that assist patients, policymakers, and/or clinicians with decisions about a health service, and services that enhance the implementation of the results in other settings.

The authors strongly encourage nurse investigators to communicate with an AHRQ project officer before submitting a grant application to ensure the relevance of the proposed study to AHRQ programs and priority areas. After the Initial Review Group study section review process, the AHRQ project officer assigned to the application and the project's principal investigator may communicate to discuss minor revisions or clarify issues raised during the review process. Nurses can also request dual funding for proposals of interest to other federal entities such as the National Institutes of Health. Applications for AHRQ extramural research funding must include a description of plans for recruiting and retaining priority populations such as low-income, elderly, minority, or disabled groups, as well as women and children.

For more information, see "Evidence-based resources for nurses: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality," by Drs. Collins Sharp, Hubbard, and Jones, in the July 2004 Nursing Outlook 52(4), p. 215-217.

Reprints (AHRQ Publication No. 05-R008) are available from the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse.

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