Partnering With Students to Enhance the Pipeline of Future Nursing Researchers

Purpose: Research is an integral part of nursing practice, yet undergraduate nursing and high school students considering a career in nursing rarely have exposure to nursing research. Many of these students are capable of higher education, including the master’s and doctoral level, but do not pursue this trajectory due to a variety of reasons, including a lack of awareness regarding nursing career options. Additionally, in rural South Carolina these students are often the first in their families to pursue any type of post-secondary education and have limited guidance in considering a graduate education. This has a direct impact on the number of nursing faculty available to teach future nurses. Currently US nursing schools turn away almost 69,000 qualified baccalaureate and graduate applicants annually due to faculty shortages (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2015), limiting the number of nurses available to care for our increasingly aging population (Ortman, Velkoff, & Hogan, 2014). Recruitment and support of students capable of performing nursing research and attaining a master’s or doctoral degree is critical in assuring the future production of well-prepared, professional nurses. To provide an opportunity for early and direct engagement in research, we formed a nursing research club in partnership with a local high school and engaged high school and nursing students in a collaborative research project.

Methods: The collaborative project engaged BSN students (n=28) in faculty-mentored research in which they concurrently mentored local high school (HS) students (n=6) interested in health sciences careers. Students participated in a longitudinal, prospective research study of lung capacity among school band members (n=77). The BSN students recruited participants and obtained peak flow measurements using spirometry at the beginning and end of the school year. We conducted formative and summative program evaluations using Debriefing for Meaningful Learning.

Results: Both HS and BSN students reported having gained valuable knowledge on the research process, asthma and pulmonary function testing, leadership, and communication, in addition to other skills of value in health care delivery (i.e., patient engagement, documentation). Challenges identified included a need for role clarity. Follow-up engagement opportunities have included participation in local podium and poster research presentations by 1 BSN and 2 HS students. Participation in this mentored research program facilitated another BSN student’s selection for a nursing internship.

Conclusions: This unique multi-level educational partnership allowed BSN students the opportunity to concurrently participate in research and concurrently serve as role-models of nurse researchers. Initial process evaluations revealed that opportunities to participate in research early in the academic trajectory can influence students in considering a career in nursing research.