The School of Nursing is committed to cutting-edge research to advance nursing knowledge, guide improvements in patient care and positively impact health outcomes. To achieve these goals the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) research program focuses in three substantive areas:

1. Primary Care

2. Acute and Chronic Illness

3. Health Systems Management, Policy, and Informatics

Primary Care

For almost 20 years, the Primary Care group has managed the Proviso East School-based Health Center with uninterrupted support from the State of Illinois and the federal government, managed a healthy eating and weight program for middle-school students at Christo Rey, provided support for adolescent fathers in Maywood in order to improve neonatal and pediatric outcomes, and worked with parents and middle-school students to establish adaptive communication styles, aimed at decreasing the potentially negative outcomes that occur to middle-school and high-school students when they do not have appropriate ways to communicate with parents/adults regarding the challenges they are facing in school.

Acute and Chronic Illness

The Acute Chronic Illness group has projects in several key areas garnering national attention:  The effects of vitamin D on cardiovascular and metabolic issues, particularly diabetes in women;  Covariation of diabetic markers with symptoms of depression; Support for caregivers of stroke survivors; Women’s heart health; Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on immune outcomes for breast cancer patients, and the effects of the environment in triggering systemic inflammation that forms the basis for most chronic disease.

Health Systems, Leadership & Policy (HSLP) Department 

The overarching mission of the Health Systems, Leadership & Policy Department is to advance the health of populations through scholarship, inquiry, practice and advocacy. Our mission is achieved by: advancing research and practice in health systems and environments of care in local national and global communities, enhancing knowledge and application of innovative teaching and learning practices and preparing intellectually curious and reflective leaders committed to addressing the humanistic goals of health care.