Developing grant writing skills to translate practice dreams into reality

In an era of health care reform and limited financial support, good ideas for changes in clinical practice may await the available time, resources, and attention that are required to test and implement them. Developing grant writing skills is a way to attract resources to explore the feasibility and potential efficacy of changes to improve patient outcomes or efficiencies of care. This article describes the purpose of grant writing by advanced practice nurses (APNs), discusses the needs for and benefits of grant writing, identifies types and sources of available grants, describes potential roles of APNs in grant writing, describes ways to overcome barriers to grant writing, and presents strategies for writing winning grants to develop and improve practice in acute and critical care settings. These strategies will help APNs get started and provide a guide to follow in writing their first grant or will refresh their existing grant writing skills.