The tangible benefits of research

I have to be honest. Nursing research didn’t sound like an exciting cover story to me.

The term “research” brought to mind dry, academic treatises loaded with statistics and scientific terms that I don’t understand. Leave it to nurses to put their own stamp on the discipline — and to change my mind.

As a professor and associate dean for graduate programs at the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University, part of Linda Streit’s job is to get nurses interested in research.

“We try not to stifle their creativity when it comes to choosing a research topic,” said Streit, Ph.D., RN, BSN. “It could be something in the education or clinical arena. The point is that it [should] be something that they love and that it meets the needs of the market we serve.”

“Nurses practice as they are taught,” said Streit, but as the profession has embraced evidence-based practice, more nurses are questioning whether the practices, procedures and assumptions that they learned really produce the best outcomes. Are they the most efficient and best ways to do something, and if so, can we prove it? Where’s the evidence?

Nurses are, after all, on the front lines of care and are in a unique position to identify problems and to test theories.

With hospitals striving for better patient outcomes and improved safety, nursing schools being asked to prepare students in greater numbers to meet the nursing shortage and health care professionals fighting epidemic diseases like diabetes, more nurses are participating in research.

“It’s not ivory-tower research; it’s bedside research and a lot of it is applied. We’re looking at practical things that make a difference in patient outcomes,” said Helen Hodges, RN, Ph.D., a professor and the RN/BSN coordinator at Mercer’s nursing school.

Nurses participate in quantitative research — drug or procedure studies, for example — and in qualitative studies, where clear-cut variables aren’t so obvious. Nurses seem to have a knack for qualitative research, because they’re used to gleaning information from patients and picking up on recurring themes that could lead to answers.

Hodges, along with colleagues Pattie Troyan and Ann Keeley, recently published an article, “Professional Resilience in Baccalaureate-prepared Acute Care Nurses, in Nursing Education Perspectives,” the official publication of the National League of Nurses. The article has a scientific title for a common issue. Because of the challenges of bedside nursing, most nurses leave direct patient care after five years, causing a brain drain and exacerbating the nursing shortage.

“Yet we all know people who stay 20 years or more, because they love it,” Hodges said. “We wanted to know what allowed them to stay and what problem-solving skills we could teach to help nurses develop career longevity. We want to help our nurses and keep that expertise at the bedside.”

She believes the information gleaned from seasoned nurses can be used to improve nursing education and practice.

“If we are going to tackle a research study,” Streit tells her students, “let’s make sure it’s helpful and will make a difference. Try to make it something tangible that we can feel good about at the end of the day.”

CELEBRATING NURSES

With 2008 coming to a close, it’s time to think about honoring nurses who went above and beyond the call of duty this year. Once again, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and ajcjobs will honor 10 nurses with the annual Nursing Excellence Awards.

To nominate the most trusted, compassionate, skilled and knowledgeable nurse you know, go to Celebrating Nurses. The nomination deadline is Feb. 27.

This year’s Celebrating Nurses awards banquet will be on May 6, 2009 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

- Do you have any story ideas for Pulse? We’d love to hear more about your career and what you do after hours. Send e-mail to pulseeditor@ajc.com or call 404-526-2078.