UW–Madison School of Nursing researchers are passionate investigators, taking innovative approaches, collaborating across disciplinary boundaries, and translating research into effective solutions.
Research areas of particular strength and depth within the school include:
- Aging
- Chronic illness & symptom management
- Care of children & families
- Health systems & care delivery
Other areas of expertise include:
- Informatics
- Health disparities
- Acute care nurse decision-making
- Workforce development
- Mental health
- Self-management
- Women’s health
- Population health
Research News
The Future Problem Solver
PhD student Theresa Watts had questions. When UW–Madison let her look for answers, she found some. Now the New York Native wants to use her PhD to find solutions to vexing public health problems and to eliminate health disparities.
What Nurses Know about Opioids
The opioid epidemic continues to claim lives, disrupt families and challenge communities, but nurses are hardly standing idly by. In many settings, they are creating solutions, implementing new programs, and driving change for nurses, patients, health systems and communities.
New Morgridge Center for Public Service Faculty Director to Focus on Strengthening Campus and Community Relationships
School of Nursing Associate Professor Earlise Ward, new public service faculty director of the UW–Madison Morgridge Center, hopes to see a strengthening of university relationships with underserved communities. She also hopes that the Morgridge Center becomes a leader on campus in developing an infrastructure to support community-based researchers.
Stressed Parents Rely on Junk Food for Kids
Stressed-out people make bad food decisions, eating higher-calorie foods and eating more often. Stressed-out parents may be making those unhealthy choices for the children who depend on their judgment, new research finds.
- Research & Innovation at SoN
Improving the Human Condition
A Tradition of Translational Research
We believe that nursing is a powerful instrument for improving the human condition. Nursing practice informs our research, and we lead the way in connecting research back to practice so it has immediate impact. The integration of research and practice fosters the development of innovative products that improve care in schools, long-term care facilities, and other settings.
Collaborative and Interprofessional
Collaboration allows us to apply multiple lenses to cross-cutting issues, conduct studies in clinical settings, and facilitate the translation of research into evidence-based practice. In addition to partnering with community leaders and organizations, we engage in interprofessional research partnerships with colleagues in a wide range of fields, from industrial engineering to social work.
Research Partnerships
Wisconsin Network for Research Support
The Wisconsin Network for Research Support (WINRS) at the School of Nursing is a community and patient engagement resource. The WINRS team provides researchers with effective and innovative strategies for engaging stakeholders and study participants—especially those from underrepresented populations. WINRS delivers tailored training for patient and community advisory boards, facilitates meetings with the Community Advisors on Research Design and Strategies (CARDS)®, and provides other consultation services that suit the unique needs of any project involving stakeholders.
Wisconsin Public Health Research Network
The School of Nursing is a primary partner in the Wisconsin Public Health Research Network, a group of health department leaders and researchers who have organized to support and advance public health systems and services research driven by the needs and interests of health departments in Wisconsin and beyond.
Public health professionals, researchers, students, and others interested in public health services and systems research in Wisconsin and beyond are encouraged to join the network.
Center for Aging Research & Education
The School of Nursing's Center for Aging Research & Education (CARE) works to improve the health and wellbeing of older adults. One of the ways it accomplishes this goal is by promoting timely and relevant aging research. CARE convenes a campus network of tenure-track and clinical faculty who are involved in aging research and scholarship. This provides forums for researchers to share their work with other academics, clinicians, care providers, and the public. CARE's efforts to promote interprofessional collaboration and community engagement both strengthen nursing research and contribute to evidence-based practice.
Institute for Clinical and Translational Research
The Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) is a UW–Madison partnership that includes the School of Nursing, School of Medicine and Public Health, School of Nursing, School of Veterinary Medicine, School of Pharmacy, and College of Engineering.
ICTR fosters a collaborative university culture and facilitates the transformation of research into a continuum—from investigation through discovery and to translation into real-life community practice.
Researcher Resources
Nursing Research & Sponsored Programs (NRSP)
The NRSP Office at the School of Nursing is dedicated to supporting research through an array of services. Under the leadership of the associate dean for research, statisticians and other qualified staff members of the research management team provide expert assistance to graduate students, faculty, and staff in identifying funding opportunities, developing grant proposals, submitting grant proposals and contracts, and managing post-award processes.
Staff members provide expertise in federal, state, and private funding mechanisms, offer assistance in research subject recruitment, and serve as liaisons between the university’s central research offices and School of Nursing researchers.
The NRSP Office also provides online grant preparation resources for School of Nursing researchers.
Research Design & Statistics Unit
The Research Design and Statistics Unit (RDSU) within the NRSP Office provides consultation and support around issues of research design, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. Statisticians are available to provide support for both faculty and graduate students as they prepare and implement their research proposals. The RDSU offers online training in statistical software packages commonly used by School of Nursing researchers. It also offers access to a variety of specialized data, data analysis methods, and methodological papers.
Diversity Resources
Researchers examining and incorporating issues of diversity also have access to consulting and other resources through the Director of Diversity Initiatives.