A dentist was picked to run an NIH nursing institute. Nurses quickly rallied

The decision by the National Institute of Nursing Research to name a dentist and a biologist in interim leadership roles has set off a debate (and a petition) among nurses questioning why a nurse leader wasn’t named to the job. 

A National Institutes of Health spokesman said they had failed to find a qualified nurse researcher after conducting a national search for a director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), which operates a $160 million budget and employs 96 full-time workers. Ann Cashion, who has worked for the NINR since 2011 and was the director for one year, announced she was stepping down in August. 

“The reasons are lingering stereotypes of nurses as doctor assistants with no independent thought or leadership skills and a lack of awareness about the preparation, experience and overall skill set of nurses,” Maria Milagros Kneusel Rivera, a registered nurse at Centura Health, told me. “To say that they were not able to find a nurse fit for a nurse leadership position is bogus.”

A new search is now underway, and the job was posted publicly on the same day that Business Insider first reported the news. Candidates must have a Ph.D. or a research doctoral degree. 

“The idea that a non-nurse could competently oversee an elite nursing institution or evaluate proposals for nursing research with a view to spending taxpayer dollars on them presents a threat to both nursing and society,” wrote the authors of the petition, which has gathered 4,187 signatures since it was created Aug. 27.

There has been a push in the nursing community to encourage more nurses to pursue graduate-level research degrees. Less than 1% of nurses (about 28,000) have a doctoral degree in a nursing-related field. Only 1,282 nurses received doctoral nursing degrees and 532 received PhDs in 2010, according to the Campaign for Action, a nursing advocacy organization formed by AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Those figures have since jumped. In 2018, 7,039 nurses earned doctoral degrees and 804 got Ph.Ds.

At the same time, there has been a movement in recent years by nurses to have their expertise, most notably at the frontlines of patient care, recognized by others in health care circles. 

Not only are some nurses running for public office, but nurses have become an increasingly influential bloc when it comes to everything from demanding minimum staffing standards from the hospitals they work for (like in New York City) or an apology from Washington state Sen. Maureen Walsh, who offended nurses earlier this year when she said they play cards at work. 

Nurses, what’s your take on this news? How can issues like this be prevented in the future? Also, do you know a qualified nurse researcher candidate? Tag them in the comments. 

News I’m Watching

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Editor’s Pick: “I am having trouble understanding where the liability falls in the event of an incident or motor vehicle accident.” - Sarah Perkins, Fallon Health

TECH | Amazon’s virtual clinic: a new care pilot or internal R&D lab? Amazon has launched a virtual medical clinic that offers telemedicine and home visits for its employees in Seattle, reports CNBC. Kristi Henderson, a former executive at the Ascension health system who joined Amazon earlier this year, is the clinical operations leader of the new clinic, called Amazon Care. Amazon, Apple, and other corporations have been testing new care models for their employees in order to help stem rising health care costs. Some experts believe the companies are also using the clinics to research new technologies they are developing internally.  

Editor’s Pick: “We really need to focus on digital integration of these emerging partners into our health systems to make sure our patients’ journey does not become overly fragmented in the new realities of Amazon, Walmart, CVS, etc.” - Brett Daniel, CMIO, Swedish Health System 

CLINICAL | Doctors now ask patients about vaping in the exam room. The rise of vaping-related illnesses has led pulmonologists to ask patients about their use of electronic cigarettes. “Do you vape? Do you Juul? Very bluntly. It’s part of what I ask now,” a pediatric pulmonologist told Stat News this week. Doctors often ask about smoking, but most have not included questions about vaping as standard protocol. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 people have died, and at least 805 have been sickened by lung injuries that researchers believe stem from vaping products containing cannabis or nicotine. 

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Nurses, what’s your take on this news? How can issues like this be prevented in the future? Also, do you know a qualified nurse researcher candidate? Tag them in the comments.