Institute for Nursing is pleased to introduce a new contributing editor for the "Nursing Research Corner" section of the "New Jersey Nurse", The

New Jersey Nurse, Jul/Aug 2004

Claire E. Lindberg, PhD, RN, APRN, BC

Research by and about, nurses and nursing is exciting because it leads to new and more effective nursing interventions, and improvements in patient comfort and safety, and, according to Claire Lindberg, PhD, RN, can effect positive changes in nursing work environments. Although not every nurse will be involved in planning and implementing independent nursing research projects, Dr. Lindberg feels that every nurse should use research to advance and enrich their practice.

For Dr. Lindberg, nursing research, and research-based practice, are the essential foundation for her roles of nurse educator, nurse clinician and nurse researcher. As Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at The College of New Jersey, Dr. Lindberg teaches nurses and nursing students to seek out important studies and to consider the impact of scientific findings on patient care and the nursing profession. In addition to her teaching duties at TCNJ, Dr. Lindberg is also currently Chair, Division of Advanced Nursing Education and Practice. In this capacity she provides leadership to the faculty in two nurse practitioner tracks and a post-baccalaureate school nurse certificate program.

Dr. Lindberg is an active participant in nursing research, focusing her studies on health decision-making among women and adolescents, and on HIV/AIDS prevention and care. Dr. Lindberg's current study involves the development of an instrument to measure symptom distress among women living with HIV and AIDS. She has been selected to present an aspect of this study at the Sigma Theta Tau 15th International Research Congress in Dublin Ireland in July 2004. Her work has been published in a variety of professional journals including MCN: The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecological and Neonatal Nursing, Healthcare for Women International, JANAC: The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, and the Journal of Perinatology. She was guest editor of the January/February 2004 issue of MCN: The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, which focused on nursig care of adolescents.

Dr. Lindberg is certified as an advanced practice nurse in N.J., and is credentialed by ANCC as a Family Nurse Practitioner and as an Adult Nurse Practitioner. She is Director of Clinical Services at HiTOPS, Inc, a non-profit adolescent health agency in Princeton, N.J. At HiTOPS, Dr. Lindberg is responsible for the management of a clinic that serves about 1000 adolescents and young adults each year. She also provides primary care to agency patients. Dr. Lindberg lectures about adolescent and women's health topics to nursing, physicians and other professionals.

Dr. Lindberg earned her B.S. degree in Nursing at the State University of New York, Health Science Center at Brooklyn. She completed her first research study while studying for her MS in Nursing at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Intrigued by the potential of research to improve nursing practice, Dr. Lindberg subsequently completed her PhD in Nursing at Rutgers and then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Psychosocial Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lindberg has been a registered nurse for over 20 years and has experience in medical-surgical nursing, maternal-child health nursing, and primary and ambulatory care nursing. Dr. Lindberg has been a member of NJSNA since 1987.