University of Colorado College of Nursing

 CCNR_Framework_PowerPoint_white.pdf

1. CU Denver:

By 2020, CU Denver will be a leading public university with a global reputation for excellence in learning, research and creativity, community engagement, and clinical care.

 

2. Colorado Collaborative for Nursing Research (CCNR): 

By (a) linking Colorado health-care institutions and (b) pooling Colorado health-care resources, the CCNR will generate research and translate that research into evidence-based practice, contributing to a world-class health-care system for Colorado and beyond.

 

 

Improvement of patient safety/patient care tops the Institute of Medicine’s research-priority list (IOM, 2009). In keeping with the nation’s top research priority, we propose to create an infrastructure that links expert academic and facility-based researchers, health-care system administrators, care providers, and students (University Strategic Priorities, Goals 1.2, 1.3, and 6.1; Objectives 4.3.2 and 4.3.3). This proposal has already sparked tremendous interest from Centura, HealthOne, VA, Denver Health, University of Colorado Hospital, and Children’s Hospital Colorado. Together, we aim to enhance the quality and efficiency of Colorado nursing care through generation of evidence and subsequent translation of research evidence into evidence-based organizational and clinical best practices (University value of “Health and Care of Mind, Body, and Community” and University Strategic Priorities, Goals 3.2; 4.1, and 4.2). This proposed joint effort is called the Colorado Collaborative for Nursing Research (CCNR).

 

 

The CCNR makes the CU College of Nursing’s (CON) world-class research capabilities available exclusively to collaborative partners (University Strategic Priority 3, Goal 6). First, the CCNR provides a forum where Colorado's thriving health-care community can match research interests with CON faculty members to produce collaborative work for funding and publication (University Strategic Priorities, Objective 2.5.2). Second, the CCNR lets the CON offer a menu of research support services—e.g., project consultation, grant writing, statistical analysis, and mock reviews—to our collaborative partners, who want and need such support.

Dr. Karen Sousa and Dr. Linda Flynn will lead the CCNR staff in offering bundles of research-support services only to first-year charter members. In subsequent years, membership dues paid by participating health-care systems will sustain CCNR staff and activities.

 

The CCNR provides several benefits to CU Denver. First, the CCNR demonstrates the University’s commitment to collaboration and strengthens the bonds between the College of Nursing and its health-care delivery partners. Furthermore, the CCNR opens up collaborative research opportunities for the CON’s faculty and doctoral students. Most importantly, scholarship produced collaboratively by CON researchers and health care-community partners will upgrade patient-care quality, promote patient safety, and guide clinical/executive nursing practice for all Coloradans and all the world (University Strategic Priority 3, Goal 1). In sum, the CCNR ramps up College of Nursing scholarly output and channels CON research findings into evidence-based community practice.