Global perspectives on under‐funding for Clinical Research Training Fellowships in Nursing

Harnessing the nursing and midwifery workforce to boost Australia's clinical research impact

“…The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the MRFF aim to invest in research informed health care, underpinned by transformative and innovative studies conducted by a skilled and capable health and medical research workforce 14,15 . However, analysis of research funding reveals profound inequity in the distribution of funds 16 …”

“…Although Australia's nurses and midwives are ideally placed to provide solutions to current health service inefficiencies, they are underrepresented as recipients of research grant funding. For example, of the 200 NHMRC grants funded to clinical trials networks between 2004 and 2014, only nine (5%) involved nursing and midwifery‐specific research; 12 in 2020, the NHMRC Investigator Grants scheme saw only seven of 238 grants (3%) awarded to nursing and one to midwifery (0.4%); 16 and only one NHMRC 2020 postgraduate scholarship was awarded in nursing (1.6%) 16 . Notably, of all NHMRC 2020 grant round applications, only five of 673 successful applications (0.74%) were nursing or midwifery focused, and only 30 of 5221 total applications (0.57%) identified nursing or midwifery as the primary field of research 19 .…”

“…14 , 15 However, analysis of research funding reveals profound inequity in the distribution of funds. 16 …”