Pearls and Pitfalls of Team Science.

Formidable health problems are often best addressed by teams of scientists with varied expertise. This diversity among team members and complexities in managing teams can lead to challenges in designing, funding, conducting, and reporting research. Team science difficulties can be addressed by sophisticated planning, frequent reassessment and realignment of team strategies with goals, and consistent transparent communication. This article addresses specific strategies to build and sustain research teams, manage team meetings, strategically develop publications and grants, thrive in the midst of disciplinary and individual team member differences, embrace new ideas and change to maintain creativity, and build future team scientists and projects. The potential value in team science justifies the effort required to build and maintain efficient and effective research teams.

Launching Successful Beginnings for Early Career Faculty Researchers.

Junior faculty follow a research path replete with challenges as they strive to create knowledge in their area of interest while balancing new responsibilities. Unlike graduate school, where students focus inward on personal development, junior faculty must add responsibilities in ways that hold them accountable as members of a university. This special article deals with three themes of interest to new junior faulty launching research programs: personal development, collaboration and team development within university settings, and funding advice. Strategies in these areas provide guidance on navigating early careers and finding success in the academic setting.

Strategies to Build Authorship Competence Among PhD Students.

Publication in refereed journals is an important responsibility of PhD-prepared nurses. Specialized writing skills are crucial for effective professional publication. The capacity to develop and publish articles is best learned during doctoral education. This Western Journal of Nursing Research Editorial Board Special Article addresses multi-dimensional strategies to develop authorship competence among doctoral students. The article outlines structured PhD program experiences to provide the context for students to develop authorship capacity. The authors identify multi-faceted faculty endeavors and student activities that are essential to foster authorship competence. Students who embrace opportunities to acquire authorship qualifications will be well prepared for their post-graduation role as stewards of the nursing discipline.

Normalizing Rejection.

Getting turned down for grant funding or having a manuscript rejected is an uncomfortable but not unusual occurrence during the course of a nurse researcher's professional life. Rejection can evoke an emotional response akin to the grieving process that can slow or even undermine productivity. Only by "normalizing" rejection, that is, by accepting it as an integral part of the scientific process, can researchers more quickly overcome negative emotions and instead use rejection to refine and advance their scientific programs. This article provides practical advice for coming to emotional terms with rejection and delineates methods for working constructively to address reviewer comments.

Managing opportunities and challenges of co-authorship.

Research with the largest impact on practice and science is often conducted by teams with diverse substantive, clinical, and methodological expertise. Team and interdisciplinary research has created authorship groups with varied expertise and expectations. Co-authorship among team members presents many opportunities and challenges. Intentional planning, clear expectations, sensitivity to differing disciplinary perspectives, attention to power differentials, effective communication, timelines, attention to published guidelines, and documentation of progress will contribute to successful co-authorship. Both novice and seasoned authors will find the strategies identified by the Western Journal of Nursing Research Editorial Board useful for building positive co-authorship experiences.

Aging in place: merging desire with reality.

Barriers to aging in place include physical mobility and transportation limitations, isolation related loneliness and depression, diminishing health status, housing quality, finances, and caregiving resources. The scope of the aging demographic shift, economic consequences and loss of quality of life urge adoption of such successful approaches as the life course model. Desirable aging in place provides person-centered quality of living that is independence-effective and affordable. Systematic community-centered and person-centered approaches are crucial to accomplishing the central actions of the life course model. Not only are the actions necessary, they are interactive, interdependent, and strategic in supporting one another.

Strategies for a successful PhD program: words of wisdom from the WJNR Editorial Board.

Nursing doctoral programs prepare students for research-focused careers within academic settings. The purpose of this Editorial Board Special Article is to provide PhD students and advisors with suggestions for making the most of their doctoral experience. Editorial Board members provide their individual insights on the skills and attributes students must acquire during the course of their doctoral education in order to succeed. The authors provide practical tips and advice on how to excel in a PhD program, including how to select an advisor and a dissertation committee, the importance of attending conferences to increase visibility and develop a network of colleagues, presenting and publishing research while still a student, and balancing work and personal life. Students who take full advantage of the opportunities available to them during the course of their doctoral programs will graduate well prepared to take on the multiple responsibilities of research, teaching, and leadership.

Time management strategies for research productivity.

Researchers function in a complex environment and carry multiple role responsibilities. This environment is prone to various distractions that can derail productivity and decrease efficiency. Effective time management allows researchers to maintain focus on their work, contributing to research productivity. Thus, improving time management skills is essential to developing and sustaining a successful program of research. This article presents time management strategies addressing behaviors surrounding time assessment, planning, and monitoring. Herein, the Western Journal of Nursing Research editorial board recommends strategies to enhance time management, including setting realistic goals, prioritizing, and optimizing planning. Involving a team, problem-solving barriers, and early management of potential distractions can facilitate maintaining focus on a research program. Continually evaluating the effectiveness of time management strategies allows researchers to identify areas of improvement and recognize progress.

Technology for long-term care.

Severe staff shortages in long-term care (LTC) make it difficult to meet the demands of the growing aging population. Further, technology-savvy Baby Boomers are expected to reshape the current institutional environments toward gaining more freedom and control in their care and lives. Voices from business, academia, research, advocacy organizations, and government bodies suggest that innovative technological approaches are the linchpin that may prepare society to cope with these projected demands. In this article, we review the current state of aging-related technology, identify potential areas for efficacy testing on improving the quality of life of LTC residents in future research, and discuss barriers to implementation of LTC technology. Finally, we present a vision of future technology use that could transform current care practices.

Reducing the distance in distance-caregiving by technology innovation.

Family caregivers are responsible for the home care of over 34 million older adults in the United States. For many, the elder family member lives more than an hour's distance away. Distance caregiving is a growing alternative to more familiar models where: 1) the elder and the family caregiver(s) may reside in the same household; or 2) the family caregiver may live nearby but not in the same household as the elder. The distance caregiving model involves elders and their family caregivers who live at some distance, defined as more than a 60-minute commute, from one another. Evidence suggests that distance caregiving is a distinct phenomenon, differs substantially from on-site family caregiving, and requires additional assistance to support the physical, social, and contextual dimensions of the caregiving process. Technology-based assists could virtually connect the caregiver and elder and provide strong support that addresses the elder's physical, social, cognitive, and/or sensory impairments. Therefore, in today's era of high technology, it is surprising that so few affordable innovations are being marketed for distance caregiving. This article addresses distance caregiving, proposes the use of technology innovation to support caregiving, and suggests a research agenda to better inform policy decisions related to the unique needs of this situation.

Implementing evidence-based practice in home care.

As home care quality initiatives increase agencies must integrate evidence-based practice. This article reviews a model of quality improvement to guide system change that can be used to implement best evidence and suggests that most agencies fall within three stages of preparedness. Based on the stage of readiness, specific steps to move toward successful implementation of best practice are recommended.