RESEARCH COMMITTEE
College of Nursing research committee functions with the Dean as the Chairperson and representatives from medical and nursing faculty. The committee meets at specific intervals to scrutinize and approve research proposals submitted by the nursing faculty and students through a rigorous review process.

College of Nursing Research S.O.P.
The following steps are followed before any research is initiated:

  1. Faculty submits a research proposal to the Dean, using the Institutional Review Board (IRB) format for writing the proposal.
  2. The Secretary of the Research Committee, who is one of the Deputy Deans, scrutinizes the proposal for completion and informs the faculty of any requirements as necessary.
  3. The completed application is then sent to one of the research committee nursing member for preview and comments.
  4. The secretary sends the previewer comments to the faculty and once the suggestions are incorporated by the faculty, the Secretary organizes a research committee meeting.
  5. The proposal is sent to all the committee members at least two weeks before the meeting.
  6. During the meeting, the faculty will present the proposal and members will comment based on their review. The proposal may be accepted or rejected or the researcher may be asked to present the proposal with the corrections at a later date. The proposed budget is reviewed and accepted.
  7. The committee members will decide whether the proposal has to be presented in the IRB.
  8. The suggestions and decisions will be intimated to the faculty researcher in writing. These final corrections and comments are incorporated and submitted through the Dean to the Secretary, research committee. An approval letter is given by the Secretary on behalf of the research committee.
  9. Faculty initiates the research and once the study is over, he/she submits a report to the research committee.

ONGOING RESEARCH
The following are the ongoing research projects in the College of Nursing:

  1. Mrs. Balaseetharaman- A descriptive study to assess the self care behaviour of patients admitted with heart failure in cardiology and Cardio-Thoracic Department, CMC.
  2. Dr. Shirley David – A descriptive longitudinal study to assess the learning styles and correlation with theory marks of under graduate nursing students of College of Nursing, CMC, Vellore.
  3. Mrs. Sheela Durai- (PhD proposal) – Effect of clinical nursing practice guidelines on patient outcome and knowledge, attitude, practice and satisfaction of nursing personnel regarding nursing care of critically ill patients.
  4. Mrs. Nirmala Emmanuel – Relationship between sleep quality and the physical and psychological parameters of nurses with low back pain working in Christian Medical College – a continuation of the Collaborative Research with Kansas University.
  5. Mrs. Lilly Prasad – A study to assess the effectiveness of a structured teaching programme on paediatric nurses’ knowledge regarding the use of pulse oximeter and the clinical interpretation of the oximetry data in paediatric wards of CMC, Vellore.
  6. Mrs. Ranjitha Chacko – An experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of oral care using tooth brush as compared to regular oral care in reducing the incidence of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) among mechanically ventilated patients admitted in Medical Intensive Care Units of Christian Medical College, Vellore.
  7. Mrs. Helen Charles – Mental health and coping among adolescents in South India – A school based study.

FACULTY WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT
College of Nursing takes keen interest in capacity building of its own faculty, providing prospects for personal and professional development.

  • Continuing Nursing Education and Research Department organizes workshops and refresher training courses for in-house faculty.
  • The College also ensures a good networking by encouraging the faculty to participate in national and international conferences/workshops.
  • The faculty take active part in policy making and participate as members of various statutory bodies in the country namely, INC, State Nursing Council, University, Board of Nursing Education and various professional organizations such as TNAI, Nurses League of CMAI, NRSI, SOCHNI and SOMI.
  • Opportunities of sabbatical and study leave for faculty facilitate up-gradation of knowledge and clinical skills.
  • Faculty also enjoy other benefits such as free health services, travel allowances and housing as per the institutional policies.

Kansas University Medical Centre Modale Junior Research Fellowship
Faculty also have opportunity to be the beneficiary of a collaborative research programme with Kansas University for 4 ½ months, where they expand their knowledge on clinical research and conduct joint research. Nursing faculty have been benefitting by this constructive research fellowship since 2011.

Senior and Junior Training Fellowships
Faculty also avail Senior Training Fellowship and Junior Training Fellowship in universities of their preference, where they gain expertise on their specialized field of interest.

FACULTY EXCHANGE PROGRAMMES
The college also has collaboration agreements in research and education with various overseas universities.

KAROLINSKA UNIVERSITY & OREBRO UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN
The Linnaeus-Palme International Exchange Programme of Sweden creates opportunities for Karolinska University, Sweden; Orebro University, Sweden and College of Nursing, CMC, Vellore for mutual deepening of knowledge between the faculty of these institutions and promote transcultural learning by exchange of expertise. Since 2008, these institutions have been exploring joint possibilities regarding use of modern learning technology in nursing education and building global perspectives within the nursing curricula. Overseas faculty involve in teaching post graduate students of our College in areas of their expertise.

The College also has developed faculty exchange programmes with Loma Linda, Kansas, Washington and Pennsylvania Universities in the USA.

HEALTH VOLUNTEERS OVERSEAS (HVO)
Since 2003, College of Nursing, CMC, Vellore has been a partner for the HVO Nursing Overseas Programme, under the aegis of Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO). Under this programme, overseas faculty visit our College and share their expertise on areas of their specialty, based on specific objectives drawn by our College. The Family Nurse Practitioner programme was initiated in the College in 2004 after consultation with experts from HVO.

Dr. Jan Nick, PhD, RNC, from Loma Linda University, USA was the first HVO volunteer to visit our College, who shared her expertise on manuscript preparation, accessing electronic information and requisites for setting up learning resource centre for training and research.

In 2004, Dr. Melanie Percy, RN, PhD, CRNA, CPNP, FAAN, Co-ordinator of Paediatric Nurse Practitioner Programme, School of Nursing, University of Texas visited our College and shared her expertise and experiences with curriculum planning for nurse practitioner programme.

In 2006, Dr. Barry Farkas shared his skills of physical assessment and clinical diagnosis with our faculty and staff, especially focusing at the primary health care level.

Our understanding about the Family Nurse Practitioner programme was further strengthened by the visit of Dr. Jean Martin, DNSc, RN, CPNP, who is the Director of Graduate programs, Kirkhof School of Nursing, Allendale. As a Paediatric Nurse Practitioner, she expounded on the role of a nurse practitioner and also assisted in formulating the core subjects of the practitioner course.

In 2011, Paige Johnson, MSN, CRNP, MPH who is a certified Adult Nurse Practitioner and Paediatric Nurse Practitioner in Children’ Mercy Hospital, Missouri enlightened us on trends and challenges of a nurse practitioner and persuaded us to think of initiating Nurse Practitioner programme in CMC.