Nursing Research

Nurses comprise the largest group of health care providers in both the public and private sectors. In addition, patients have more contact with professional nurses than any other health care provider. As nurses are a vital component of the health care delivery system, it is appropriate that nursing reaffirms its purpose as a research discipline in assisting patients achieve positive health care outcomes.

A significant nursing shortage combined with severe economic constraints of funding available for health care has prompted concern in the nursing community regarding patient safety and the quality of care provided to patients in hospitals.

There is a critical need for more definitive data to document the link between nursing interventions, staffing levels and patient outcomes. The need to define quality of nursing care and to determine how it is measured is urgent.

Evidence-based Nursing Practice (EBNP) combines the best scientific evidence from nursing and other research with the special clinical perspective of nurses in performing the full range of patient care activities. Nurses who use EBNP in their delivery of care demonstrate greater satisfaction with work experiences. In addition, patients receive higher quality of nursing care.

To meet this need, the UNMH Nursing Research Department provides valuable services for research endeavors including literature reviews, HRRC applications, proposal writing, grand funding, data collection, data analysis and administration of research projects. The focus is patient centered and is interdisciplinary in nature.

The EBNP programs that were accomplished in 2006 included the HRRC approved studies: Patient Safety - 4S, LAUNCH - MICU & NSI, Pressure Ulcers - TSI, Influenza Vaccine outcomes - UNMH, Motivational Interviewing on Substance Abuse - UNMH.