| CASN Research Mandate and Goals Discussion Paper | | | CASN is the national voice for nursing education – both undergraduate and graduate. CASN member institutions educate individuals for entry into the profession of nursing and several educate nurses at the graduate level, preparing many of Canada’s current and future nurse scholars/researchers. CASN recognizes the interdependence of professional nursing practice, education and scholarship/research – hence, it is clear that the promotion of high quality nursing scholarship/research and growth of the nursing discipline is central to CASN’s mission as the national voice for nursing education. CASN’s scholarship/ research mandate is:
To develop the nursing discipline in Canada and internationally.
This document delineates the objectives that will be undertaken by CASN’s to achieve this mandate, and the assumptions that underlie them.
Assumptions:
CASN resources are finite and should be invested strategically
Development of the nursing discipline is best served by a cooperation and inclusion
CASN recognizes the scholarship/research mandates of other international, national and provincial nursing and health-related organizations and strategically collaborates with these organizations as warranted
Objectives:
The following objectives guide CASN activities undertaken to meet its scholarship/ research mandate:
Educate nurse scholars/researchers (sufficient quantity, high quality, appropriate diversity)
Secure sufficient funding for nursing scholarship/research, particularly funding to CASN member institutions
Enhance scholarship/research cooperation across CASN member institutions and promote inclusiveness
Recruit and retain nurse scholars/researchers in CASN member institutions
Showcase and disseminate scholarship/research productivity of CASN member institutions
Cooperate with other nursing and non-nursing organizations, provincial, national and international, to promote nursing scholarship/research
The following strategic plan guides CASN activities undertaken to meet these objectives. The strategic plan is reviewed and amended annually, based on the priorities of the day.
A draft of activities that may fall under the six objectives includes the following (the CASN Scholarship/Research Committee will want to develop these further):
Maintain the nursing research database
Lobby for increased (designated?) funding for nursing research
Lobby for increased representation of nurses on research review panels & administrative structures (only 7 CIHR institutes have nursing representation)
Lobby for nurses as Canada Research Chairs
Lobby for a Canadian Chair in Nursing Education
Develop effective models for nursing research – e.g., affiliations between and among CASN member post-secondary institutions and health agencies (particularly the designated teaching hospitals and health units)
Develop innovative and efficient models for graduate nursing education
Link nursing research centres more effectively
Articulate CASN research priorities to policy-making bodies
Establish critical linkages between CASN and other stakeholders and policy-formulating bodies
Increase graduate seats in nursing (MN/MSN, PhD, Post-doc)
Increase Canadian capacity to supervise nurse scholars
Develop federal and international exchanges for nursing research training (will help overcome "regionalism" and facilitate networks/partnerships)
Obtain increased funding for graduate training in nursing science, with policies that are "nurse friendly"
Incentives for development of "fast-track" research-intensive graduate nursing programs
Develop ways in which academic nursing resources which presently reside in college/technical institutes and health agencies can be more effectively marshaled to support nursing research training (e.g., joint appointments and adjunct appointments with university-based graduate nursing programs to enhance the pool of individuals available for graduate supervision – obtain protected time and/or mechanisms for recognition of scholarship/research activity
Should nursing as a profession, take the lead on developing Boyer’s notions of the scholarship of practice?
Develop and broker a national "clearinghouse" for nursing research practica and (a "virtual" bulletin board)
Scholarship and Research as defined by CASN
In 2001, CASN Council approved the document "Defining Scholarship for CASN Accreditation" to "elucidate the full range of scholarship within the discipline of nursing". The document was based upon concepts proposed by Boyer in "Scholarship Reconsidered (1990), as well as work by Glassik et al. (1997), and a position paper titled "Defining Scholarship for the Discipline of Nursing", published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) in 1999. For the reader’s reference, CASN’s position on scholarship and research is reprinted here.
Scholarship of Discovery
Research is diligent, systematic inquiry or investigation to validate and refine existing knowledge and generate new knowledge (Burnes & Groves, 2001). This is the traditional view of scholarship: the pursuit of original research utilizing quantitative or qualitative methodologies for research with the result that there is a creation of new nursing knowledge. Research into areas such as nursing practice, client care, program delivery, and increasingly, participation in interdisciplinary inquiries, often are the focus of scholarship of discovery. Faculty may participate in primary empirical research, historical research, theory development, methodological studies and or philosophical inquiry. These pursuits are documented through peer-reviewed publications of research, theory or philosophical tracts; presentations of findings; grant awards in support of research or scholarship; mentorship of junior colleagues in research; recognition by professional or jurisdictional bodies as a scholar in a defined area or peer evaluations of a body of work.
Scholarship of Teaching
The scholarship of teaching is defined as the facilitation of the transfer of the science and art of nursing from the expert to the novice, building bridges between the teacher’s understanding and the student’s learning] (Boyer, 1992). Scholarly teachers are able to individualize learning, adapt to different learning styles and understand how knowledge is acquired and co-constructed, resulting in consistency of outcomes for student learning.
Scholarly teaching may be demonstrated through the development of innovative teaching and evaluation methods, program development, learning outcome evaluation and professional role modeling. Evidence of scholarly teaching may be found in teaching portfolios, curriculum development, peer-reviewed presentations and publications related to teaching methodology or learning outcomes, learning theory development, development and/or testing of educational models; accreditation or other comprehensive external reviews; published textbooks; design of outcome studies or evaluation programs; presentations related to teaching and learning.
Scholarship of Application
The maintenance of clinical competency of faculty and the advancement of clinical knowledge in the discipline of nursing are critical components of the scholarship of application. Nursing, as a practice discipline, provides an opportunity for practitioners and educators to engage one another in the application/generation of new knowledge. Practitioners utilize client experience and research-based nursing knowledge to inform their practice. Nurse faculty role-model expertise in practice grounded in current research and recognize the interplay of theory and practice in the generation of new knowledge. Examples of this scholarly activity may include a critique of practice utilizing criteria and standards, initiating change, creating new approaches to care. Other examples of this form of scholarly activity are the development of practice standards, client care protocols and procedures and the development and utilization of quality assurance tools and clinical audits. Documentation of these pursuits may be found in evaluations by peers, students or self-critique in the application of scholarship in practice; presentations related to practice; consultation reports; reports compiling and analyzing patient or health services outcomes; grant awards in support of practice; reports of meta-analyses related to practice problems; reports of clinical demonstration projects; and policy papers related to practice.
Scholarship of Integration
The scholarship of integration is the synthesis of knowledge from isolated facts or other disciplines into a new meaning or perspective. This component of scholarly activity uses concepts and original works from nursing and other disciplines in the creation of larger intellectual patterns noting relationships and connections across or within disciplinary boundaries. Critical analysis and interpretation are two common methodologies, but interdisciplinary work may take place through any medium for scholarship such as those described as discovery, teaching or practice (Boyer, 1990).
Integrative scholarship may include participation from two or more disciplines in inquiry that creates knowledge or combine knowledge in applications that offer new conceptual models. Examples of this form of scholarly activity might be integrative reviews of the literature, analysis of health policy, development of original interdisciplinary research and integrative models or paradigms across disciplines. Demonstration of such activity may be found in peer-reviewed publications, dissemination of research, policy analysis, or case studies; published books; reports of interdisciplinary programs or service projects; interdisciplinary grant awards; or policy papers formulated to influence organizations or governments.
Summary
Examples of activities deemed scholarly in each of the four categories noted above are not exclusive; rather they are intended to be guides for application. Likewise, examples of evidence of scholarly activity are provided as an illumination of the need for some type of concrete demonstration of scholarly activity. Boyer speaks of the faculty as a mosaic of talent with each person developing his/her own particular form of inquiry andprofessional development toward the generation of new knowledge. Such a mosaic honours the contribution of each individual in the creation of a community of scholars.
References
Academic Ad Hoc Designation Committee, School of Nursing, University College of the Cariboo. (1999). Position Statement on Academic Designations for the School of Nursing, September 1, 1999.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (1999). Defining Scholarship for the Discipline of Nursing. Washington, D.C. AACN.
Boyer, E. (1990). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Princeton, NJ: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Burnes, & Groves, Wb Saunders (2001)
Collaborative Nursing Program of British Columbia (2000). Response to CASN reviewer report. British Columbia, 2000.
Glassick, C. Huber, M. & Maeroff, G. (1997). Scholarship assessed: Evaluation on the professoriate. San Francisco, C.A.: Jossey-Bass.
Murphy, Norma, et al. Dalhousie University, Faculty of Health Professions. (1993). Scholarship Definition. Halifax, Nova Scotia. Office of the Dean.
Storch, Janet & Gamroth, Lucia and Partners of the Collaborative Nursing Program in British Columbia. (2000) Scholarship Revisited. Victoria, B.C. (in press).
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