Nursing Research/The RN's Role

Jay Levan · Mar 30, 2005

I am an R.N. with 32 years experience. I am a Diploma R.N. (3 year program) I have applied several times in my career, for a reserch position, to no avail. I do not remember the details, but was told once that I was not qualified for a position in research. Of course, I find that hard to believe. However I am not someone to try to convince anyone of my qualifications for a particular position, that I have been turned down on. Also, I've never had the time to research, Research Nursing beyond filing those several applications. So I guess I just lost interest. I was at the beginning of my career, chasing Physician Assistant Programs, the first school I applied to lied to me, they told me that if I received a Face to Face interview from their Director that it meant that I was virtually accepted to the program. I received that face to face interview, only to be told that I would have to re-apply the following year as the class was full. I asked why I had to go through the entire process again, and was told that a) I had scored a 98% on the written exam, and b) that they were looking for candidates that indigenous: (having originated in and being produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment.) The Hospital, Harlem Hospital in Manhattan New York. Since I am caucassion, I felt I had a very good case to file for race discrimination. I thought about that for awhile, but decided it was not worth the aggravation. That one episode, changed my view as to convincing anyone of my qualifications :smokin: Now for my question? If the need is so great for research positions, are you aware of any resources pertinent to qualifications needed to fill these positions? If so please forward them to me. I hope this information serves you well.

Dixielee, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2005

1-What is your educational (associate degree, baccalaureate or masters), only RN's should reply. RN, BSN.

2-What is your perspective on nurses doing research and what do you see as your role? Have you ever been involved in a research study, either the researcher or one of the persons collecting data?

I think it is great for nurses to be involved in research if it is relevant and someone looks at the results and makes changes that need to be made. I was a 'subject" when I gave birth to my first child, 30 years ago. A midwife student was doing a project on maternal/child bonding and filmed my first interaction when left alone with my baby for the first time. I would give anything to have a copy of that film now!!

I also was interviewed for a book on ICU burnout and have a chapter on "me" in a nursing book.

3-Do you subscribe to any nursing research journals? If so what one? What do you do with the information you read? NO, I subscribe to Nursing 2005. I have read some nursing research journals and they are the driest, most boring reading ever! I read the abstract and the conclusions, everything in between is mostly irrelevent.

4-If not, why? And what might encourage you to read and use research?

As above. Most research papers are written purely for the function of acedemia, and not to really educate or inform (IMHO). They are either masters or PHD thesis papers or written by professors who must publish in order to keep their jobs. Therefore they are written for PHD types whose main objective is to pick apart the data and collection criteria. If the target audience would be the staff nurse, not an acedemic, the focus and results would be far more useful.

Littlewonder · Mar 30, 2005

Hi Jamy,

I empathaize on the required class. I did a literary research assignment in my nursing research course, but I have not done any since then. (I went straight from highschool to a BSN course). There is a very strong need for nursing research, but there is not much time for the "avarage" RN to do research. I know my hospital does not give us extra time (paid or unpaid) to do research, and it is a great hassle to get through all of the publication requirements to do research. Also, the writing style required to get published is very profesional - as it should be - but look at the avarage writing of your typical RN - we are great at being concise, but not at being eloquent.

I think the greatest number of research studies by nurses are done by educators and by students in route to their masters degree. That is an excellent way to do it, because you get direct oversite on the research of the professors, etc. The bad part is that the researchers are often not very experienced in research...

I use research in my practice - if I have the access to it. I would read a lot more if our hospital had a library of journals or subscribed to an online source. I do not order any research journals (although I would love to do so) because I simply can not afford them. I work in rural MO and my income barely pays for normal living expenses and paying off my student loans - not a lot of room for extra.

The other area that nursing research needs to contend with is simple application issues. Although nursing research can change practice, more often than not (at least where I work) the doctors preferences dictate many areas of practice. Therefore nursing research needs credence with the physicians before it is likely to be implemented in current practice.

Example: we know that shaving the perineum prior to a lady partsl delivery is not benificial for infection reduction, it can actually increase the risk of infection with the bacteria hiding in the small nicks caused by shaving... (as well as causing unnessesary itching and embarrasement for the patient) but can we convince the one of the doctors at our hospital of this -NO :nono: :banghead: It will take publishing the research in the medical journals for him to even consider it. (I always tell patients they are free to refuse the shave! :wink2:

Anyway, I got off the topic. Nursing research is important, we should have more of it, we need to find a way to use it once it is done without having to have a fight with the doctors, and I would love to do research but I can't earn a living doing research where I am. I would have to move. Yuck.

Hope that helps a little. Lots of luck on your class. :plonker2:

nursbee04 · Mar 31, 2005

1. What is your educational level

ASN

2. What is your perspective on nurses doing research and what do you see as your role? Have you ever been involved in a research study, either the researcher or one of the persons collecting data?

I think nurses should definantly be involved in research, as long as it is

relevant to the nsg profession.

3. Do you subscribe to any nursing research journals? If so what one? What do you do with the information you read?

I only subscribe to AJN and Nursing2005

If not, why? And what might encourage you to read and use research?

If the research was targeted/geared toward my position in the ICU and

not filled with purely statistical jargon, then I might subscribe. And I

do read

and use research even though I don't subscribe to a research journal.

For example, a couple of years ago they decided pt's shouldn't go in

trendelenberg for shock. Therefore, we don't put them in trendelenberg

anymore.