Nurse leader calls for health systems to recognize nurses’ ‘dual expertise’

Health systems and academic institutions should implement systemic reforms to support nurse clinician-scientists who balance active bedside practice, research and lived experiences, says University of Pennsylvania Assistant Professor Kathryn Connell, PhD, RN. Connell, who holds additional research and clinical roles, writes in The Lancet that, unlike medicine, nursing “dual expertise” is widespread but structurally invisible. Consequently, nurse clinician-scientists often work night and weekend clinical shifts while maintaining full-time academic appointments. Connell urges health systems and academic institutions to create formally integrated clinician-scientist roles with protected research time. Academic institutions should align promotion and evaluation systems to recognize active clinical practice as an asset to scientific inquiry and foster environments enabling nurses to draw upon lived experience without risking professional or scholarly credibility. (Newswise news release, 7/8/26)