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Issued by

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NURSING RESEARCH (NINR)

Purpose

PURPOSE

This Notice is a Request for Information (RFI) inviting feedback on the NINR Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2027-2031 (FY27-FY31). 

Please note that it is important to read the entire RFI to fully understand how your comments will be utilized and to help you prepare a constructive response.

BACKGROUND

The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) was established 40 years ago to advance nursing science and strengthen the scientific foundation for improving health through nursing research. Since its founding, NINR has supported research to improve people's health and health care, benefitting people of all ages, wherever they receive care, and across many different health conditions. NINR has consistently prioritized research that addresses critical health challenges facing the nation, with an emphasis on generating evidence that can be translated into clinical practice that improves health outcomes.

Looking ahead, NINR seeks to support research that advances health by deepening understanding of how people experience, manage, and respond to health and illness in the context of daily life, and by identifying, testing, and implementing approaches that improve care and promote better individual and population health outcomes.

The purpose of the NINR Strategic Plan is to articulate the Institute's key areas of scientific focus as it carries out its mission to lead nursing research that addresses urgent health challenges, informs health care practice to improve health for all. The Strategic Plan is intended to provide a broad framework for NINR's scientific priorities and future direction; it is not intended to serve as a comprehensive list of research topics, define the boundaries of nursing science, or to prescribe specific research methods or approaches.

NINR STRATEGIC PLAN KEY AREAS

Foundational nursing research priorities

• Areas of nursing science that should remain central to the field across populations, conditions, and settings, and why.

Emerging science

• Key areas where nursing research can have the greatest impact on health as science evolves.

Scientific workforce and training

• Conditions needed to develop, support, and sustain strong careers in nursing research.

Innovation

• Innovations that have the greatest potential to accelerate progress in nursing research.
• Applying advances in data, measurement, or digital tools in practical and effective ways in real-world settings.

Translation and implementation 

• Approaches to determine what interventions works best, for whom, and under what conditions to improve patient, families, and community outcomes and accelerate adoption into practice.
• Opportunities for nursing research to accelerate the translation of evidence into real-world care.

Conditions of daily life

• Patient factors influencing the effectiveness of interventions across different populations, communities, and care environments.

Care settings

• Addressing the biggest gaps in care delivery through nursing research that includes improving diagnosis, treatment, and patient outcomes.
• Evidence that is most needed to guide clinical decisions to improve health outcomes.

Partnerships

• Innovative partnerships and collaborations that could strengthen the impact of nursing research.

The National Institute for Nursing Research seeks comments on, but not limited to, the key areas of nursing research articulated above and anything else relevant you want to tell us.

Request for Comments

The RFI invites input from stakeholders throughout the scientific research, academic, advocacy, and clinical practice communities, as well as the general public.

How to Submit a Comment

All comments must be submitted electronically to: [email protected]

Responses must be received by November 1, 2026.

NINR encourages organizations (e.g., professional organizations, advocacy groups) to submit a single response reflective of the views of the organization or membership as a whole.  

Responses to this RFI are voluntary.  Please do not include any personally identifiable information or any information that you do not wish to make public. Proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should not be included in your response. The information submitted in response to this RFI will be analyzed and may be used for planning purposes at the discretion of NINR. NINR reserves the right to use any submitted information on public websites, in reports, in summaries of the state of the science, in any possible subsequent solicitations(s), grant(s), cooperative agreement(s), or in the development of future funding opportunity announcements. 

This RFI is for informational and planning purposes only and is not a solicitation for applications or an obligation on the part of the government to provide support for any ideas identified in response to it. The government will not pay for the preparation of any information or for use of information submitted to this RFI. No awards will be made based on responses to this RFI.

We look forward to your input and hope that you will share this RFI opportunity with your colleagues.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
Email: [email protected]