Background: Biomedical research focuses on highly controlled clinical trials in academic health centers, where the emphasis is on disease treatment and rehabilitation. The results, therefore, are not readily applicable to patient populations that primary care clinicians encounter in their community practices, where the focus is on health promotion and disease prevention. Although the number of practice-based research networks (PBRNs) is growing in primary care, these networks are governed by the physicians who created them and address research questions reflective of physicians' practices and perspectives. Other primary care clinicians, such as advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), who routinely provide care for underserved and minority populations lack a forum for studying their practice problems and processes. A PBRN of APRNs in primary care provides a means for this research.
Summary: The Advanced Practice Registered Nurses' Research Network in southern New England is the first PBRN established for APRNs. This article describes the development of the network.