Question: What are your feelings on the role played by nursing research in improving the care nurses give to patients?
Respondent #1 RN in clinical practice.
The nurse thought that nursing research was very important because it helped improve her job and resulted in benefits for the patient. She felt that nursing research was highly essential and that it was the only way to improve patient care. She said that she hoped that she would be doing some nursing research in the future.
This nurse was obviously highly in favor of the idea, and even wanted to do some research herself. She said she couldn't wait to gain more experience on the floor so she would have a clear idea of a good research project. "It's my goal to do research and find out something new to help my patients," she said. This young RN was very enthusiastic. She has not yet been jaded by the long hours and heavy work loads many nurses are dealing with in this nursing shortage. She has the right attitude and motivation and the drive to be a good researcher.
She told me she knew several nurses who were involved in nursing research and how much she envied them. "I can't wait!" she said excitedly. "It's my dream." It is unusual to find someone so anxious and delighted with the idea of doing research at such a young age (21 years), but it is encouraging to know that there are still nurses out there with this type of enthusiasm for the field.
This respondent was a nurse practitioner in a busy cardiology office with 24 doctors on the team. He has worked there for some time in a number of capacities for the various specialist in the team and is familiar with a lot of the research that the doctors in that office are involved in. Personally, he is not interested in doing nursing research. "Since I work in a doctor's office, I'm more interested in what goes on here and what I can learn from them," he told me. "They are on the
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