PHILADELPHIA (December 2, 2025) – In an editorial published in JAMA Health Forum, three prominent nursing researchers have strongly defended the necessity of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) and its enduring impact on public health. Titled "The Enduring Impact of the National Institute of Nursing Research and Why We Still Need It," the viewpoint addresses the Institute's future as it approaches its 40th anniversary.
The authors – Mary D. Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN , the Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology in the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences and Director of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions and Health ; Martha A.Q. Curley, PhD, RN, FAAN , Professor of in the Department of Family and Community Health , and the Ruth M. Colket Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; and Connie M. Ulrich, PhD, RN, FAAN , the Lillian S. Brunner Chair in Medical and Surgical Nursing in the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences and Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy in the Perelman School of Medicine -- note the critical tension between the current administration's proposal to eliminate the NINR in its 2026 fiscal year budget and the votes by House and Senate Appropriations Committees to maintain its current funding.
Naylor, Curley, and Ulrich argue that the need for the NINR's distinctive research strengths is greater now than ever before. They point to the Institute's unique approach, which includes a life course perspective that promotes health across the entire lifespan. Ultimately, they conclude that science grounded in the core of nursing—which considers the whole person and their caregivers, engages the patient and family in care, and promotes people's strengths—must remain a federal funding priority.
