Thoughts of summer camp usually conjure images of sleeping bags, flashlights, and campfires. The TSNRP Grant Camp is a different kind of summer camp—a 5-day comprehensive workshop for military nurses and miliary nursing graduate students that offers the opportunity to work with expert military nursing faculty and nurse researcher peers to submit a successful funding award proposal. Campers arrived at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, CA, with laptops and proposal ideas.
The 2023 agenda included a mix of presentations from faculty members, dedicated mentorship time, and opportunities for student presentations with peer and faculty feedback. Some of the topics presented by faculty included:
Research methods and data collection (for quantitative, qualitative and Evidence-Based Projects)
Research protections and compliance with requirements of institutional review boards (IRBs) and institutional animal care and use committee (IACUCs)
Survey app
Working with virtual teams
TSNRP research priorities, the review process, and role of TSNRP Executive Board of Directors were woven throughout the presentations.
Grant Camp features representation from the Army, Navy, and Air Force in both faculty and students. All of the junior faculty attended Grant Camp as students and were successfully funded, and were able to provide additional insight from their TSNRP awards. Student attendees came prepared and provided excellent peer feedback along with suggestions to make future Grant Camps even better.
Applications to attend Grant Camp are due in early spring and include a 3-to-5-page draft proposal. After acceptance, each student attendee is assigned a dedicated faculty mentor. These pairings began to meet prior to Grant Camp, and continued to work together through the week. Look for more information in January to plan to attend the 2024 TSNRP Grant Camp.