Important Dates
Application Opens: Thursday, October 15, 2026
Full Proposals Due: Tuesday, December 1, 2026
Applicants Notified: February 2027
The Oncology Nursing Foundation supports implementation projects that bring innovative science to clinical practice.
Purpose
To support projects that integrate nurse-scientist-generated knowledge into oncology nursing practice while documenting strategies that can be replicated across healthcare settings.
This grant awards up to $100,000 over a 2-year project timeline.
The ONF Implementation Grant is a pilot funding opportunity designed to support the integration of nurse-generated research into clinical practice and contribute to improved outcomes for people with cancer.
Nurse scientists continue to generate critical knowledge that holds promise for improving oncology care. While translating discoveries into everyday practice can take years, the ONF Implementation Grant aims to support this process by funding collaborative nursing teams to identify effective strategies for implementing evidence in real-world clinical settings. Through this initiative, ONF seeks to begin to demonstrate the unique and complementary contributions of nurses across roles and explore how collaborative nursing leadership can advance the uptake of evidence-based practice.
Funded teams will strive to understand how to effectively adopt, implement, and sustain an existing evidence-based intervention that is not consistently used. The project focus should be on the implementation process, strategies, barriers, facilitators, and sustainability. Competitive proposals will be informed by an implementation science framework and focus on testing adoption strategies, with adequate attention to fidelity, feasibility, acceptability, and sustainability.
Research areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Implementation of symptom screening or management guidelines, healthy workplace practices, integration of electronic patient-reported symptom monitoring, medication adherence practices, survivorship care planning, palliative care referral, oncology navigation, health equity and social determinant screening, financial toxicity screening, or oncology telehealth implementation, among other topics
- How do we get clinicians to use evidence consistently?
- What factors influence uptake and sustainability?
- Which implementation strategies work best across settings?
The following types of studies are not responsive to this funding opportunity:
- Quality Improvement (QI) projects that do not create new knowledge but are designed to improve a process, outcome, efficiency, safety measure, or service in a specific setting.
The Collaborative Team Model
Successful proposals will demonstrate collaboration across key nursing roles that collectively drive practice change:
Nurse Scientist (PhD or equivalent)
Provides the scientific foundation and guides the translation of research discoveries into clinical application.
Clinical Quality Improvement Expert (DNP)
Leads implementation design, process improvement, and evaluation of how evidence is integrated into care delivery.
Nurse Leader or Clinical Nurse Specialist
Facilitates organizational alignment, mobilizes teams, and ensures institutional support for practice change.
Direct Care Nurse(s)
Brings frontline expertise to ensure the innovation is practical, feasible, and effective in day-to-day patient care.
Together, these roles form a practical model for testing approaches to translating oncology nursing research into clinical practice.
Proposals should:
- Implement evidence-based nursing practice recommendations in oncology clinical settings
- Assess readiness and organizational context for implementation
- Identify barriers and facilitators to practice change
- Develop replicable implementation strategies that can inform broader adoption
- Include plans for sustaining and sharing results with the oncology nursing community
Eligibility Requirements:
- This funding mechanism requires a Multiple Principal Investigator (MPI) model with a PhD (or equivalent degree) and a DNP-prepared nurse working together to co-lead. One MPI serves as the contact PI.
- The contact PI must be a registered oncology nurse actively involved in some aspect of cancer patient care or education.
How To Apply:
- Applications are currently closed; sign up for updates from ONF to be notified when the next application cycle opens.
- Email grants@onfgivesback.org with any questions.
- All questions must be submitted to the Foundation prior to 4:30pm Eastern Time on the day of the application due date in order to receive a response prior to the deadline.
- No late applications will be accepted, and all applications for this program must be submitted through the application platform online.