The authors are profoundly grateful to the many senior colleagues who have also been committed to the concept of producing a historical text that would chronicle the state of the science in terms of nursing research shaping health policy after the first 25 years of stable, substantial extramural funding. The nurse investigators sharing and analyzing the influence of their research on health policy in this book are truly pioneers; not only in terms of the long-term research programs they have built and sustained, but also in their concerted efforts to influence both health practice and policy at all levels. Several interdisciplinary colleagues also understood the book’s vision and focus and, as they have conducted and supported nursing research, were willing to contribute to this historical endeavor. The interdisciplinary colleagues brought expertise and new perspective. A special thank you to all of this book’s authors!

This historical book was made possible by the nursing leaders in the mid-1980’s, and their professional organizations, who believed in the nursing research community of scholars and dared to strive for a scientific entity for nursing “within the mainstream“ of health science. Thus, the National Center for Nursing Research, now the National Institute of Nursing Research, was born. Many thanks to the Division of Nursing at the Health Resources Service Administration, for a solid early foundation in research training and to the numerous nursing leaders who followed the dream of an institute at the National Institutes of Health.

The authors especially want to acknowledge the incredible expertise, valuable advice, and consistent support and nudging provided by Ms. Margaret Zuccarini, Executive Acquisitions Editor, at Springer Publishing Company.

The authors would also like to thank Mary Wooley, President, Research!America, for writing the foreword for this text and for her keen understanding of and consistent, strong support for nursing science. Mary’s strong advocacy for biomedical and behavioral science and her ability to articulate the link between research and policy is a gift to the entire scientific community.