N.R.
VIEWPOINT
ajn@wolterskluwer.com A JN ▼ May 2015 ▼ Vol. 115, No. 5 11
By Morgan Yates, BScN, RN
Research in Nursing Practice
Bridging the gap between clinicians and the studies they depend on.
Research provides the foundation for highquality,
evidence-based nursing care. However,
there isn’t a direct flow of knowledge
from research into practice. When I ask nurses
where the “evidence” to guide the development
of “evidence-based care” comes from, I get an interesting
array of answers, from “researchers” to
blank stares, as if there’s no connection between
the worlds of researchers and bedside nurses.
If research evidence informs our nursing practice,
why doesn’t it come from all
of us? Nurses are inquisitive,
think critically about their patients’
care, and want to know
the best treatments for their
patients—all of which makes
them perfectly suited for research.
Though the majority
of nurses don’t have the training
to conduct research projects
without assistance, they
know how to ask questions and they know which
questions need answering.
Yet research is often perceived as something undertaken
by others far removed from the front lines of
nursing practice. I believe that many nurses’ notions
about who does or doesn’t do research are rooted in
our identity as nurses, which often manifests in a belief
that “good” nurses are not researchers but instead
have excellent clinical skills and can manage any crisis
on a unit. A 2007 study by Woodward and colleagues
in the Journal of Research in Nursing found that nurse
clinicians engaged in research often perceive a lack of
support from nurse managers and resentment from
colleagues who see the research as taking them away
from clinical practice.
The distinction often drawn between nursing research
and clinical practice is mirrored in the inconsistent
translation of research evidence into practice.
Despite widespread promotion of evidence-based
practice in nursing, creation of new translational research
roles for nurses in major medical centers, and
Medicare reimbursement policies in the United States
tied to implementation of specific evidence-supported
practices, studies continue to suggest much room for
improvement. In a September 2014 article in this journal,
Yoder and colleagues noted that researchers have
consistently found that “nurses who valued research
were more likely to use research findings in practice.”
Such observations suggest a need for a much stronger
link between nurse clinicians and the development of
research into best practices. Though this has been discussed
for years, I do not yet see research as having
infiltrated fundamental views of what constitutes
“nursing work.”
My discussions with frontline nurses and nurses involved
in research have led me to ask three key questions
that need addressing before we can fully integrate
research into our professional identity. These are:
• How can nurses strive for
high-quality research without
focusing on randomized
controlled trials?
• What are the barriers to
and challenges of being involved
in research and how
can we address these?
• How can nurses at varying
education levels be involved
in research?
Nurses could turn many quality improvement
(QI) projects into research. Research may be viewed
as a continuum, with formal projects at one end and
QI projects somewhere along the continuum. Though
nurses may not think that QI projects would be of
interest to others, with increased understanding of
the research process and greater institutional support,
some QI projects could easily become research
projects.
More bedside nurses are likely to engage in
research
if
• nursing education is strengthened.
• time away from direct care is allocated for conducting
research activities.
• consultant resources such as methodologists and
biostatisticians are available to staff.
• institutional and organizational support of research
are strengthened.
Many nurses are intimidated by research, but change
is possible if we stop seeing research as someone else’s
job and start making it a part of who we are and what
we do. This will pave the way to evidence-based practice
truly becoming the norm. ▼
Morgan Yates works as an RN in the ED of Surrey Memorial
Hospital, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Contact author:
yatesmt@ucalgary.ca. The author has disclosed no potential
conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise