Alexa Curtis
Nurses are drawn to their profession out of interest in people and the human condition. In particular, nurses are committed to improving the physical and social circumstances of individuals and diverse populations. During the rigorous process of qualifying for admission and graduating from a nursing program, nurses demonstrate the capacity for acquiring and applying scientific knowledge. However, when it comes to actively engaging with nursing research, too often nursing professionals steer clear.
It is an interesting phenomenon, given that nurses by nature tend to be curious and innovative individuals. We rely on our ability to problem solve creative solutions to difficult situations. We are also highly dependent on the evolving scientific knowledge that informs our clinical practice. And most importantly, we care. We care about doing the best by people and communities. So where is the disconnect when it comes to engaging nurses in conversations about research ?
Thinking of research as ‘methodized curiosity.’
As an academic, I can say it may start with how we teach research in nursing school. The curricula for these courses tend to include large texts with obtuse terminology and complicated formulas. Although research language and data analytics are important to investigative inquiry, entry into the research realm can really be much less complicated.
When I was in my nursing doctoral program at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), my daughter was in kindergarten. Sitting in circle time, the five-year-old students responded to the discussion prompt “I notice, I wonder.” I took great pleasure in reflecting on how this circle time dynamic mirrored the research process we were discussing in my doctoral classes. “I noticed, I wonder” is a great foundation for a research question. Ultimately, the research process is really just methodized curiosity.
Clinical nurse or researcher, but rarely both.
Nurses’ disconnect from research may also be a result of how the health care industry is organized. Although “nurse researcher” positions exist, most commonly within large organizations, generally you are either identified as a clinical nurse or a researcher.
These classifications establish a false dichotomy, because all nurses are implementors of research evidence and all nurses routinely gather data to assess cause and effect in patient outcomes.
All that is really missing in this scenario is a formal research design. Taking the next step into designing and implementing research projects is a logical extension of our caring practices. And it cannot be overstated that since nurses are so intimately embedded in the experiences of patients and the lives of persons in the community, we have prime access to important questions and relevant data.
Breaking the research process into digestible installments.
It has been a great pleasure working with my colleagues on the Nursing Research: Step by Step series in the American Journal of Nursing. In this series we have attempted to demystify the research process by providing key information on that process in digestible installments. We also highlight the multiple ways nurses can engage in research, including interpreting and applying the evidence, implementing quality improvement projects, conducting investigations, and working within interdisciplinary research teams.
Working on this series has energized me to design my next project when I find myself posing the question “I notice, I wonder” as I care for my clients and work with my students. I hope it has done the same for you. We would love to hear your feedback and learn about your next research project.
Alexa Colgrove Curtis, PhD, MPH, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAANP, is assistant dean of graduate nursing and director of the MPH–DNP dual degree program at the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions.
Clinical nurse or researcher, but rarely both. This struck a cord with me. I have been grappling with this thought in my own experience. It’s a sad fact that indeed, the choice to be one or the other- the doer or the thinker. But rarely both. I would like to find a role that allows nurses to be both. It would no doubt be the most rewarding and fulfilling experience. In my 31 years as a nurse, it was frustrating to be too tired to think most days. And the most thinking I could do was how do I make sure Mr. X doesn’t fall on my shift? lol! And to this day, this problem with FALLS is as universally pervasive. But that’s another topic altogether.