Findings and Recommendations From the State of the Art (SOTA) Conference on Nursing Research to Improve Veteran Outcomes
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the largest employer of nurses in the United States, has more than 120,000 nursing personnel providing care to over 9 million Veterans across diverse settings. Despite nursing's central role in delivering and sustaining care, research on strengthening the nursing workforce and optimizing nursing practice has remained underdeveloped in VHA. To address this gap, VHA's Office of Research and Development, in partnership with the Office of Nursing Services, convened a State of the Art (SOTA) conference in November 2023 focused on nursing. The Nursing SOTA brought together nurses, researchers, operational leaders, and other stakeholders to review current evidence, identify research gaps, and develop recommendations. Five priority areas were identified: pressure injury prevention and treatment, care coordination models, social drivers of health, nurse staffing and care models, and the nursing work environment. Cross-cutting themes included the need for stronger data infrastructure and expanded support for the VHA nursing science workforce. Conference recommendations were incorporated into VHA's 2024 Health Systems Research Priorities and are expected to inform future research, policy, and practice aimed at advancing nursing science and improving care for Veterans.
Authors
- Marguerite Daus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7640-9986)
- Christine M. Olney (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3940-6107)
- Nipa Kamdar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4445-703X)
- Ann Kutney‐Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3934-8122)
- Heather Gilmartin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0264-4059)
- Sarah L. Krein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2111-8131)
- Amelia E. Schlak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3078-6799)
- Melissa K. Knox (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3757-4185)
- Laura A. Petersen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0875-1231)
- Kathryn Wirtz Rugen
- Sheila Cox Sullivan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0641-8822)
- Renee Colsch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4449-4028)
- Catherine Battaglia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1606-3116)
- Lisa Burkhart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3255-1953)
- David Atkins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0640-3356)
- Tracy Weistreich
Institutions
- Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- United States Postal Service (US)
- Colorado School of Public Health (US)
- Loyola University Chicago (US)
- VA Office of Research and Development (US)
- Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital (US)
- VA Center for Clinical Management Research (US)
- Minneapolis VA Health Care System (US)
- Office of Patient Care Services (US)
- Philadelphia VA Medical Center (US)
- Minneapolis VA Medical Center (US)
- VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (US)
- Department of Veterans Affairs (AU)
- Washington DC VA Medical Center (US)
- University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Medical Care
- Published
- 2025-12-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1097/mlr.0000000000002242
- Primary Topic
- Health Sciences Research and Education
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00