A rare nurse role that is eliminating hospital pain points
Nurse scientists are a rare but growing role in hospitals that address not just research, but operational and patient care pain points.
Nurse scientists, also referred to as nurse researchers, are nurses who have pursued a PhD and conduct research. Most commonly found in academia, nurse scientists often apply for grants, teach students and lead original research programs. Notably, this role is different from research nurses, who are typically registered nurses or nurse practitioners involved in conducting research, such as enrolling patients into clinical trials, but do not lead their own studies.
“I’ve been a nurse scientist for over 25 years and I’ve seen the role become much more familiar, and essential in leading hospitals compared to where it was 20 or 25 years ago,” Margaret McCabe, PhD, RN, senior director of nursing research and evidence-based practice at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told Becker’s.
Recently, nurse scientists have been migrating to the hospital setting while maintaining a direct connection to clinical practice. This shift can be traced back to its Magnet designation, which put a major emphasis on research conducted by nurses. Over the last decade, nurse scientists’ roles in hospitals have grown significantly, Bevin Cohen, PhD, RN, director of the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation at New York City-based Mount Sinai, told Becker’s.
“If you want to improve any outcome — patient satisfaction, cost, quality — we’re the ones who can help you design the studies to determine what works,” she said.
Nurse scientists offer a number of benefits outside of traditional research, including providing advanced education and professional development opportunities, mentoring, boosting Magnet credentials, lead grant writing, protocol design and scholarly dissemination, and bridging the gap between bedside care and evidence-based innovation.
“When pain points are raised, [nurse scientists are] the go-to people to turn those into problem statements and solutions,” Cheryl Jones, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Magnet program director MUSC Health in Charleston, S.C., told Becker’s.
Many of the top 100 systems in the U.S. have at least one clinically based nurse scientist on staff. Here is an overview of how nurse scientists fit into hospital operations and what they’re doing at 11 systems.
Brown University Health
The Providence, R.I.-based system has a few nurse scientists who focus on building a strong professional governance structure, mentoring and guiding nurses through the research process, and helping new graduates in residency programs design and implement research initiatives.
Traditionally, the system has employed a decentralized model where nurse scientists provide a limited number of hours to hospitals and staff. However, it’s working to change that to a centralized model, and took the first step by creating a system director of professional practice position.
“We want to ensure equal access to resources across all of our sites, including our community hospitals, academic medical centers, pediatric hospital and our behavioral health organization,” Karri Davis, DNP, RN, CCRN, system director of professional practice, told Becker’s. “Every nurse should have access to research scientists and professional practice support.”
The change will take research from a hospital focus to systemwide perspective and standardize practices across hospitals.
BJC HealthCare
The St. Louis-based health system hired its first nurse scientist in the late 1990s and has since grown its program to include nine nurse scientists, six nursing research faculty at its Goldfarb School of Nursing and research scientists from social work, physical therapy and nutrition.
Like other nurse scientists, their primary focus is mentoring bedside nurses and collaborating on research projects, but they also help nurses pursuing a DNP or master’s degree design school-related research projects and translate their findings into workable solutions.
One of their most notable projects was reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Nurses found that the method to measure bladder volume wasn’t very accurate, which made it difficult to know whether patients needed a catheter removed or reinserted, Marilyn Schallom, PhD, interim director of nursing science doctorate program and research scientist at Barnes Jewish Hospital and Barnes Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing, told Becker’s. Nurse scientists confirmed this in an initial study and then started new studies to find a more effective solution. Their research prompted the hospital to update its bladder scanners, which reduced CAUTIs and overall catheter use.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
There are 14 PhD-prepared nurses CHOP, the Center for Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice employs seven who work as nurse scientists.
While many systems place their nurse scientists in specific clinical areas, CHOP created a dedicated center that intentionally bridges clinical operations and the research institute. They have also built a community within nursing for PhD-prepared nurses, Dr. McCabe told Becker’s. This includes hosting monthly opportunities for the PhD-prepared nurses community or others involved in research projects to share their expertise. The center has also focused heavily on building infrastructure for nursing inquiry across three hospitals and outpatient care.
“A key factor is that our nurse scientists are all clinical experts in addition to being independent researchers,” she said. “Many are PhD prepared nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists. That dual background allows them not only to conduct research, but also to interpret data in meaningful ways, mentor nurses in inquiry and influence patient care.”
City of Hope
The Duarte, Calif.-based National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center has five nurse scientists that work in different departments and often partner with physicians to co-lead projects.
“It’s very interdisciplinary, which is important because physicians and nurses already work closely together clinically, and our research collaborations mirror that,” Virginia Sun, PhD, co-leader of City of Hope’s Cancer Control and Populations Sciences Program, and professor in department of population sciences and department of surgery, told Becker’s.
City of Hope has one of the few freestanding Divisions of Nursing Research and Education within a cancer center. The division, which has been established for over 50 years, is part of the department of population sciences. Nurse scientists have two primary contributions to the hospitals: they support evidence-based practice for bedside nurses and help with quality improvement projects, and they lead long-term research projects that provide “gold-standard data that can transform care,” she said. “Both roles are critical. Hospitals need nurse scientists who can drive quick improvements in patient care through evidence-based practice, and they also need those conducting rigorous, longer-term research that can influence national standards.”
Cone Health
There’s only one nurse scientist at this Greensboro, N.C.-based system: Marjorie Jenkins, PhD, RN, systemwide director of Nursing Research. Being at a nonacademic system, Dr. Jenkins has been building the nurse research infrastructure and resources on her own. She oversees standardizing nurse research, supporting nurses who are doing research systemwide, reviewing research proposals and overseeing student research.
“Students bring an incredible volume of work, and they’re under tight timelines,” she said. “Once they clear their university hurdles, they often assume Cone Health will automatically approve. But we still need to do the proper review, and that can surprise them. My job is to help them move through as quickly as possible. For nurses not in school, it’s about supporting their curiosity. The challenge is time. They’re full-time staff nurses with heavy workloads. But when they come forward with a project, we rally around them to build capacity.”
Dr. Jenkins said her most important role is barrier removal and helping nurses feel confident completing research projects.
Duke University Health System
Durham, N.C.-based Duke Health has historically only had one nurse scientist who has supported more than 100 projects from concept development to publication each year. Before the end of 2025, the system is recruiting three more PhD or DNP prepared nurse scientists who will also hold faculty positions at its school of nursing.
“This 70/30 employment split ensures seamless integration of our nursing science program in clinical practice and academic research,” Terry McDonnell, DNP, RN, senior vice president and chief nurse executive at the system and vice dean for clinical affairs at Duke University School of Nursing, told Becker’s. “We believe nursing science is essential to shaping the future of healthcare. Our enhanced program will serve as a model for other health systems to truly accelerate nursing inquiry and advancement of nursing led models of care.”
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic has eight PhD-prepared nurse scientists, one post-doctoral nursing research scholar and Linda Chlan, PhD, associate dean for nursing research, who joined the system nine years ago to lead nurse research efforts. The system uses nurse scientists at its main campus and its destination campuses in Phoenix and Jacksonville, Fla. Each nurse scientist has their own focus program of research across symptom science, self-management science or caregiving science. Some of their projects include self-management interventions for people with chronic conditions and non-drug interventions for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
“Our focus is on addressing gaps in the aftermath of complex care: side effects, symptom management, and overall health and well-being of patients and caregivers,” Dr. Chlan told Becker’s.
Mount Sinai
At Mount Sinai, about 20 nurses hold a PhD, but only five nurse scientists work within the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation. The center was established a few years ago and is dedicated to promoting and managing nurse research efforts.
Nurse scientists in the center have a variety of research areas, including maternal and child health equity, transitions of care post-discharge and nurse workforce issues. When they aren’t researching, the team is running national research training programs for nurses and interdisciplinary students, as well as managing an open-access peer-reviewed journal, Practical Implementation of Nursing Science, in partnership with Mount Sinai’s Levy Library Press.
MUSC Charleston
The Charleston, S.C., division of MUSC created its first nurse scientist position in 2016 to primarily help with its Magnet journey. A second nurse scientist joined the team in December 2023 to expand research capacity and more.
“It’s not just about fixing a patient care issue, it’s about helping nurses grow,” Ms. Jones said. “We know from the literature that professional development is key to retention. Here at MUSC, we’ve seen nurses who participate in shared governance and evidence-based practice projects stay longer. Many go on to new roles and leadership positions. The nurse scientists make that possible, and it strengthens the entire healthcare environment.”
Nurse scientists at the system recently completed a project focused on the health of shared governance councils and its links to retention. In patient care, they led a nurse hackathon with interprofessional teams. That event resulted in the creation of six working groups, and since February, they have reduced hospital-acquired pressure injuries.
NewYork-Presbyterian
New York City-based NewYork-Presbyterian has five nurse scientists who support its 11 campuses and academic partners. These scientists guide nurses through developing and publishing studies, hold academic roles, are often principal or co-investigators on funded studies, and lead study related workshops and serve on Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice Committees, which helps projects take root and grow.
“We’ve moved closer to becoming a true learning health system, where nurses are not only delivering care but also driving improvements,” Wilhelmina Manzano, group senior vice president and chief nursing executive at NewYork-Presbyterian, told Becker’s.
The system’s nurse scientists and fellows have co-authored more than 17 manuscripts with clinical nurses and helped translate research into practice faster. For example, a nurse-led pediatric MRI educational video became standard care after proving it reduced patient distress, Ms. Manzano said.
NYU Langone Health
This New York City-based system has three nurse scientists, all of which focus on supporting frontline providers through their own areas of specialty. For example, Kathleen Evanovich Zavotsky, PhD, RN, system senior director of nursing research and program evaluation, focuses on research in the emergency department where she helps nurses develop their professional curiosity and advance a culture of inquiry, she told Becker’s.
The system has also created the Nursing Science Fellowship: a two-year program that brings on eight to 10 nurses who are interested in research and translational science. The fellows get a comprehensive curriculum in research methodology, data analysis and how research practices. Many are not PhD-prepared, but “with mentoring, they’re developing into excellent nurse scientists,” she said.
Recently, nurses completed a project centered around its “forever heart” initiative. Forever hearts are small stone mementos carved like hearts that are held by hospice patients before being given to families. Nurses studied the impact on both health professionals and families, and found that the stones helped nurses feel empowered during end-of-life care and families said the gesture was deeply meaningful. The results were so good that NYU Langone took the initiative systemwide.
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