Background: Public health nursing has long recognized the importance of community-based collaboration in research and practice and values community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods to understand and mitigate public health issues. CBPR is a tool for public health nurses in promoting lasting change in communities with varied health needs.

Description: As junior faculty and early-stage public health nurse scientists, we have implemented CBPR research projects into our programs of research. These include studies on heat-illness first aid in migrant farmworkers, lead exposure risk assessments in Latinx communities, opioid-overdose response trainings for service industry workers, and using a graphic medicine intervention for overdose education and naloxone distribution. These projects were implemented with a mixture of pre-existing and new community collaborations.

Lessons Learned: Establishing CBPR research program can either 1) rely on pre-existing collaborations to facilitate research, or 2) develop new collaborations, which requires time and effort to build rapport and establish trust prior to conducting research. Public health nurse scientists must also place the needs of their community partners before their need to collect data. This includes pausing data collection or pivoting research questions to reduce participation burden and meet the needs of community partners.

Recommendations: Public health nursing researchers wishing to conduct CBPR should engage multiple stakeholders as early as possible in their careers. Established community connections can serve as a starting point for conducting community-based, public health nursing research. Growing a CBPR program of research requires institutional support for the “extra” work required to support and nurture community partnerships.