Nursing Research for publication

[spartan_nurse]

Hey Y'all,

I was just accepted into an evidence based nursing practice fellowship program. I have proposed a project that would look at how we as nurses handle healthcare associated delirium (HCAD) in the acute care setting. Specifically, I will be looking at developing a unit specific proactive screening tool for identifying pt's at high risk for HCAD and if such a model reduces length of stay. I work on a medical stepdown/internal medicine unit. I will be working with an advisor who has experience oversees this fellowship, but I will not have a topic advisor. At the end of the fellowship (1 year) I will present my findings in a poster presentation at a nursing symposium at my hospital. I would love to set this project up for eventual publication in a nursing journal, but have no idea how to set myself up for success. Any nurses out there publish articles on unit-based projects and how to set myself up for the possibility for publication?

Thanks

[llg, PhD, RN]

Find yourself a mentor to guide you through the project. I am surprised that the "advisor" you mentioned in the OP is not someone you feel can help you. Usually, that is an advisor's job. If you do the EBP project well ... follow all the steps correctly, etc. then the project has a good chance of being publishable. You'll just need to find a journal that publishes the type of article you want to write, and then follow that journal's guidelines for authors. Keep good records of your work ... and do each step of the EBP process thoroughly, documenting each step. Then when the time comes to write the article, you'll have what you need.

One tip: Establish up-front who the authors will be. You alone? Or will you be the first author and your advisor be the second author. Sometimes, having a partner can be helpful -- and that partner/advisor is entitled to receive some of the credit. Decide that early and talk about it so there are no hard feelings later.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) you're using will have criteria that reflect all of the "official" requirements that will be needed for publication. Most larger organizational IRBs have qualified staff that are available as consultants - they can connect newbie researchers with appropriate mentors.

Realistically? If you don't have a doctorally-prepared nurse involved in your project, your publication odds will be pretty low. In nursing, this is the educational level at which 'new knowledge is created' (e.g., research). At the undergrad level, projects like these are designed to help you learn the process.... not actually produce new knowledge. For instance, in my undergrad program, we had to produce a research proposal in order to satisfy the "research" curriculum. For many of us, the lit review we produced was accepted for publication.

See if you can find someone who is already involved in this area of research and make contact with her/him. In my experience, nurse researchers are very welcoming and willing to mentor. Just be careful - because they are so passionate about their own area, s/he may try to influence the focus of your project to better reflect their own work.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I look at it differently from the way HouTX looked at the situation. I am thinking that it is NOT a research project, will not involve the IRB, and will not be judged on research standards.

You should not be looking to publish the piece in a journal that specializes on research. Look for a publication (journal or newsletter) that focuses on clinical practice -- one that is targeted to practicing nurses and not towards academicians. Clinical journals (and ones focused on quality improvement) often publish EBP projects that demonstrate an improvement in care with document improvements in patient outcomes and/or cost savings.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

95% of publication is choosing the correct outlet. Spend some time looking through journal websites to see what types of articles they recruit for, typically publish, and what things they avoid. Look at who reads those journals. JONA concerns itself with executive level topics, while Nursing Made Incredibly Easy is geared to the bedside nurse.

Once you're further in to your program, you'll have a much clearer picture of where you can go with this.