SNRS NEWS
Leaders Needed! Message From the President Cindy L. Munro
Correspondence to: Cindy L. Munro E-mail: [email protected]
Research in Nursing & Health, 2015, 38, 100–101 Accepted 22 January 2015 DOI: 10.1002/nur.21648
Cindy L. Munro President, SNRS University of South Florida Tampa, Florida
Published online 4 March 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
Southern Nursing Research Society (SNRS) is a not-forprofit organization and is dependent upon its members to accomplish its mission of advancing nursing research. Providing leadership to the organization is an essential component of volunteer service to SNRS. There are many opportunities throughout the organization for members to develop leadership skills. Learning to lead is important for all nurses, but it is especially necessary for nurse scientists if nursing research is to continue to thrive. Regular members of the Society in good standing for at least 2 years are eligible to run for elected leadership positions in SNRS. However, most of the candidates for elected positions have a long history of involvement with the organization, and have honed their leadership skills through service on SNRS committees, task forces, and Research Interests Groups (RIGs). Members can indicate interest in volunteering through a link on the SNRS website at http://www.snrs.org/committees. While some members come to SNRS with substantial leadership capability, participation in committees, RIGs, and task forces provides valuable leadership experience for members at all career stages. Active volunteers become familiar with the organizational culture and develop the enthusiasm necessary to accept nomination to elected leadership roles. The SNRS Board is chosen by the members and includes both officers (President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer) and six Members-atLarge. All of the elected Board members are volunteers who are motivated by the desire to advance the SNRS mission. While the Board has many administrative responsibilities, its primary purpose is to “establish and coordinate the goals, priorities, activities, and future direction of the Society” (SNRS, 2014, p. 6). In all of our deliberations, the primary interest is the sustained good of the organization. We are responsible to the members, and wish to remain responsive to their needs.
C
2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Five exemplary leadership practices have been described in the transformational leadership literature: inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, encouraging the heart, and modeling the way. Recently, researchers surveyed 448 leaders of professional nursing organizations using the Leadership Practices Inventory, which includes a subscale for each of five transformational leadership practices (Ross, Fitzpatrick, Click, Krouse, & Clavelle, 2014). The most strongly-endorsed practices of these nurse leaders, across all offices held, were enabling others to act and encouraging the heart, followed in decreasing order by modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, and challenging the process. All five of the transformational leadership practices are important to SNRS leaders. If we are to stay true to mission, we must continue to inspire a shared vision of excellence in nursing research, and we must model the way to achieve excellence. It is essential to challenge processes, taking risks to grow and improve the organization. Enabling others to act is central to facilitating the research career development of our members. Encouraging the heart, through recognition of member accomplishments and celebration of the community of nurse scientists, is both necessary and gratifying. The president and CEO of the Red Cross, Gail McGovern, captured the importance of inspiring a shared vision and encouraging the heart when she wrote about lessons learned during the difficult restructuring of the Red Cross. She wrote, “Your job as a leader is to tap into the power of that higher purpose—and you can't do it by retreating to the analytical. If you want to lead, have the courage to do it from the heart” (McGovern, 2014, p. 38). Many organizations like SNRS depend on dedicated volunteers. Leadership in volunteer organizations requires commitment, passion, and heart. Please consider making a commitment to learn to lead, in an organization you love!
SNRS NEWS/ MUNRO
References McGovern, G. (2014). Lead from the heart. Harvard Business Review, 92(3), 38. Ross, E. J., Fitzpatrick, J. J., Click, E. R., Krouse, H. J., & Clavelle, J. T. (2014). Transformational leadership practices of
101
nurse leaders in professional nursing associations. Journal of Nursing Administration, 44, 201–206. doi: 10.1097/NNA. 0000000000000058 SNRS. (2014). Southern Nursing Research Society bylaws. Retrieved from http://www.resourcenter.net/images/SNRS/Files/ SNRSBylaws.pdf
Success With SNRS Grants Elizabeth Reifsnider
Correspondence to: Elizabeth Reifsnider E-mail: [email protected] Elizabeth Reifsnider SNRS Board Member at Large and Director of Grants Arizona State University Phoenix, AZ
One component of SNRS' mission is to facilitate the career development of nurses and nursing students as researchers. An important means to accomplish this mission is to offer grant funding to both full and student members to support dissertation and pilot studies. SNRS funds four grant proposals each year, two for full members and two for students. We partner with the nursing research organizations Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) and Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science (CANS) to fund two of these awards. The grant proposals are reviewed by our Grants Committee, volunteer members of SNRS with grant-writing and research experience. Whether from Research I universities or smaller, teaching-focused institutions, all have a high commitment to excellence in research. Our grant reviewers represent all spectra of nursing research, including basic, bio-behavioral, clinical, translational, descriptive, and qualitative designs. The proposals we receive are fully reflective of this broad scope, and no approach is favored over any other. Award-winning proposals have varied from bench science to community-based participatory studies. The only consistent thread is the quality of the proposed research; it must be excellent. The winners of the 2014 grants competition are: SNRS/CANS Dissertation Research Grant: Marcy Parnell, MSN, RN, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, for her proposal: Modulation of Bioelectrodynamics in Cancerous and Noncancerous Cells ($5,000). SNRS Research Grant: Debra Whisenant, PhD, RN, University of Alabama, for her proposal: Adapting a Community-based Participatory Health Promotion Model Implemented in Haiti and Jamaica to Effectively Engage Poor, Rural, Southern Residents of a Medically-Underserved Community in Appalachia ($7,500).
Research in Nursing & Health
SNRS/STTI Research Grant: Roy Ann Sherrod, PhD, RN, Capstone College of Nursing, University of Alabama, for her proposal: Infertility Experiences and HelpSeeking in African Americans: A Pilot Study ($5,000). SNRS Dissertation Research Grant: Mary Kutash, MSN, RN, University of South Florida, for her proposal: The Relationship between Nurses' Emotional Intelligence and Patient Outcomes ($5,000). Applications are sought for the 2015 competition. Information about how to apply is on the SNRS website under the tab Research Funding http://www.snrs.org/ research-grants-funding-program. Follow instructions carefully! Applicants for the SNRS/ STTI Research grant must be members of both SNRS and STTI, and applicants for the SNRS/CANS Dissertation Research Grant must be members (student or full members) of both SNRS and CANS. Proposals have been barred from review due to errors such as missing budgets or lack of documentation of current memberships. It is essential to sign the face page of the application, affirming that if the grant is funded, the funds will be used solely for the purposes of the research, and the recipient will submit an abstract of the completed research to SNRS. It is also very important for student applicants to include information about their mentors and a letter from the mentor indicating the mentor's approval of the submission, as well as documentation of satisfactory completion of the dissertation proposal defense. The requirements for proposal submission resemble those of other small grant funding mechanisms, so the proposal submission process can be a learning experience in itself. To enable SNRS to facilitate the career development of nurses and nursing students as researchers, members are encouraged to submit proposals and to support their students to do the same!
Leaders Needed! Message From the President Cindy L. Munro
Correspondence to: Cindy L. Munro E-mail: [email protected]
Research in Nursing & Health, 2015, 38, 100–101 Accepted 22 January 2015 DOI: 10.1002/nur.21648
Cindy L. Munro President, SNRS University of South Florida Tampa, Florida
Published online 4 March 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
Southern Nursing Research Society (SNRS) is a not-forprofit organization and is dependent upon its members to accomplish its mission of advancing nursing research. Providing leadership to the organization is an essential component of volunteer service to SNRS. There are many opportunities throughout the organization for members to develop leadership skills. Learning to lead is important for all nurses, but it is especially necessary for nurse scientists if nursing research is to continue to thrive. Regular members of the Society in good standing for at least 2 years are eligible to run for elected leadership positions in SNRS. However, most of the candidates for elected positions have a long history of involvement with the organization, and have honed their leadership skills through service on SNRS committees, task forces, and Research Interests Groups (RIGs). Members can indicate interest in volunteering through a link on the SNRS website at http://www.snrs.org/committees. While some members come to SNRS with substantial leadership capability, participation in committees, RIGs, and task forces provides valuable leadership experience for members at all career stages. Active volunteers become familiar with the organizational culture and develop the enthusiasm necessary to accept nomination to elected leadership roles. The SNRS Board is chosen by the members and includes both officers (President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer) and six Members-atLarge. All of the elected Board members are volunteers who are motivated by the desire to advance the SNRS mission. While the Board has many administrative responsibilities, its primary purpose is to “establish and coordinate the goals, priorities, activities, and future direction of the Society” (SNRS, 2014, p. 6). In all of our deliberations, the primary interest is the sustained good of the organization. We are responsible to the members, and wish to remain responsive to their needs.
C
2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Five exemplary leadership practices have been described in the transformational leadership literature: inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, encouraging the heart, and modeling the way. Recently, researchers surveyed 448 leaders of professional nursing organizations using the Leadership Practices Inventory, which includes a subscale for each of five transformational leadership practices (Ross, Fitzpatrick, Click, Krouse, & Clavelle, 2014). The most strongly-endorsed practices of these nurse leaders, across all offices held, were enabling others to act and encouraging the heart, followed in decreasing order by modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, and challenging the process. All five of the transformational leadership practices are important to SNRS leaders. If we are to stay true to mission, we must continue to inspire a shared vision of excellence in nursing research, and we must model the way to achieve excellence. It is essential to challenge processes, taking risks to grow and improve the organization. Enabling others to act is central to facilitating the research career development of our members. Encouraging the heart, through recognition of member accomplishments and celebration of the community of nurse scientists, is both necessary and gratifying. The president and CEO of the Red Cross, Gail McGovern, captured the importance of inspiring a shared vision and encouraging the heart when she wrote about lessons learned during the difficult restructuring of the Red Cross. She wrote, “Your job as a leader is to tap into the power of that higher purpose—and you can't do it by retreating to the analytical. If you want to lead, have the courage to do it from the heart” (McGovern, 2014, p. 38). Many organizations like SNRS depend on dedicated volunteers. Leadership in volunteer organizations requires commitment, passion, and heart. Please consider making a commitment to learn to lead, in an organization you love!
SNRS NEWS/ MUNRO
References McGovern, G. (2014). Lead from the heart. Harvard Business Review, 92(3), 38. Ross, E. J., Fitzpatrick, J. J., Click, E. R., Krouse, H. J., & Clavelle, J. T. (2014). Transformational leadership practices of
101
nurse leaders in professional nursing associations. Journal of Nursing Administration, 44, 201–206. doi: 10.1097/NNA. 0000000000000058 SNRS. (2014). Southern Nursing Research Society bylaws. Retrieved from http://www.resourcenter.net/images/SNRS/Files/ SNRSBylaws.pdf
Success With SNRS Grants Elizabeth Reifsnider
Correspondence to: Elizabeth Reifsnider E-mail: [email protected] Elizabeth Reifsnider SNRS Board Member at Large and Director of Grants Arizona State University Phoenix, AZ
One component of SNRS' mission is to facilitate the career development of nurses and nursing students as researchers. An important means to accomplish this mission is to offer grant funding to both full and student members to support dissertation and pilot studies. SNRS funds four grant proposals each year, two for full members and two for students. We partner with the nursing research organizations Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) and Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science (CANS) to fund two of these awards. The grant proposals are reviewed by our Grants Committee, volunteer members of SNRS with grant-writing and research experience. Whether from Research I universities or smaller, teaching-focused institutions, all have a high commitment to excellence in research. Our grant reviewers represent all spectra of nursing research, including basic, bio-behavioral, clinical, translational, descriptive, and qualitative designs. The proposals we receive are fully reflective of this broad scope, and no approach is favored over any other. Award-winning proposals have varied from bench science to community-based participatory studies. The only consistent thread is the quality of the proposed research; it must be excellent. The winners of the 2014 grants competition are: SNRS/CANS Dissertation Research Grant: Marcy Parnell, MSN, RN, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, for her proposal: Modulation of Bioelectrodynamics in Cancerous and Noncancerous Cells ($5,000). SNRS Research Grant: Debra Whisenant, PhD, RN, University of Alabama, for her proposal: Adapting a Community-based Participatory Health Promotion Model Implemented in Haiti and Jamaica to Effectively Engage Poor, Rural, Southern Residents of a Medically-Underserved Community in Appalachia ($7,500).
Research in Nursing & Health
SNRS/STTI Research Grant: Roy Ann Sherrod, PhD, RN, Capstone College of Nursing, University of Alabama, for her proposal: Infertility Experiences and HelpSeeking in African Americans: A Pilot Study ($5,000). SNRS Dissertation Research Grant: Mary Kutash, MSN, RN, University of South Florida, for her proposal: The Relationship between Nurses' Emotional Intelligence and Patient Outcomes ($5,000). Applications are sought for the 2015 competition. Information about how to apply is on the SNRS website under the tab Research Funding http://www.snrs.org/ research-grants-funding-program. Follow instructions carefully! Applicants for the SNRS/ STTI Research grant must be members of both SNRS and STTI, and applicants for the SNRS/CANS Dissertation Research Grant must be members (student or full members) of both SNRS and CANS. Proposals have been barred from review due to errors such as missing budgets or lack of documentation of current memberships. It is essential to sign the face page of the application, affirming that if the grant is funded, the funds will be used solely for the purposes of the research, and the recipient will submit an abstract of the completed research to SNRS. It is also very important for student applicants to include information about their mentors and a letter from the mentor indicating the mentor's approval of the submission, as well as documentation of satisfactory completion of the dissertation proposal defense. The requirements for proposal submission resemble those of other small grant funding mechanisms, so the proposal submission process can be a learning experience in itself. To enable SNRS to facilitate the career development of nurses and nursing students as researchers, members are encouraged to submit proposals and to support their students to do the same!
