Importance of Research in Nursing

By Sabeen Sheikh Abid:
Why has research -based practice become so important and why is everyone talking about evidence-based health care? But most importantly, how is nursing best placed to maximise the benefits which evidence-based care can bring? Research has been used to legitimise nursing as a profession, education has been radically reformed to reflect a research base, and academic nurses have built their careers around it. Evidence -based nursing should therefore be exceptionally useful, and its target audience of practitioners is a refreshing move in the right direction. The current nursing literature contains a wide spectrum of research designs, evidence -based care concerns the incorporation of evidence from research, clinical expertise, and patient preferences into decisions about the health care of individual patients.
Nursing research is critical to the nursing profession and is necessary for continuing advancements that promote optimal nursing care. Nursing research has a tremendous influence on current and future professional nursing practice, thus rendering it an essential component of the educational process. The role of nurse has evolved significantly. Nurses work in a variety of setting including the hospital, the classroom, the community, health department, the business sector, home health care, and the laboratory. Although each role carries different responsibilities, the primary goal of a professional nurse remains same, to be the client’s advocate and provide optimal care based on evidence obtained through research. Research is typically not among the traditional responsibilities of a nurse. Many nurses are involved in either direct patient care or administrative aspects of health care. Nursing research is growing field in which individuals within the profession can contribute a variety of skills and experiences to the science of nursing care .As a research nurse, nurse will be a the fore front of new medical discoveries and help develop breakthrough cures and medical treatment. Also responsible for studying diseases and disorders, as well as developing new treatment plans. That will also help test new treatments and medications that could possibly change the way a disease or disorder is perceived.
There are frequent misconceptions as to what nursing research is, some individuals do not even know how to begin to define nursing research. According to National institute of nursing research, nursing research is a research that provides evidence used to support nursing practices. Nursing, as an evidence -based area of practice. A formal systemic and rigorous process of inquiry used by nurses to generate and test the concepts and propositions that constitute middle-range nursing theories, which are derived from or linked with conceptual model of nursing. Nurse education places focus upon the use of evidence from research to rationalise nursing interventions. Where many nurses now work as researchers based in universities as well in the health care setting. Recently in the United Kingdom action research has become increasingly popular in nursing. Research helps nurses determine effective best practice and improve patient care. Research also helps nursing respond to changes in the health care environment, patient populations, and government regulation. As nursing researches makes discoveries, the practice of nursing continues to change. The information can become quickly outdated, so researches keep up with new developments in nursing. Research used in evidence -based practice be qualitative and quantitative. Nurses need research because it helps them advance their field, stay updated and offer better patient care. Information literacy skills can help nurses use information more effectively to develop their own conclusions. Evidence-based practice is important for nurses in clinical care setting to deliver the best safe care. Nurses need to understand, evaluate, and use research in their careers. Clinical research is essential for continually improving standards of patient care. Research nurses have played a pivotal role is an excellent environment for clinical research.
Research is an indispensable part of a modern, effective health care and essential to the provision of effective and safe health and social care. The NHS is an excellent access to health care is equal regardless of patient’s background. It can have a dramatic effect on patient’s quality of life and they often need extensive support from a multidisciplinary team of health professionals. Research is essential to continue improving every aspect of their care, from earlier diagnosis to increased survival and from developing more effective treatments to helping patients with all their physical, social, psychological, and emotional needs afterwards. Coming into the world of clinical research from hands on care provision involved a steep learning curve for the nurses. A solid foundation based on years of experience in nursing is vital to the role, but it requires a wide range of additional skills and knowledge. The research nurse’s job is complex, varied, and interesting. With the current emphasis on evidence-based practice, it has become every nurse’s responsibility to engage in research in some way. At a minimum nurse are expected to be consumers of nursing research and read research reports to develop new skills and to keep up to date on relevant findings that may affect their practice. Variety of research activities in which nurses engage as a way of improving their effectiveness and enhancing their professional lives. These activities include the following.
^Participating in a journal club in a practice setting, which involves regular meetings among nurses to discuss and critique research.
^Attending research presentations at professional conferences.
^Discussing the implications and relevance of research findings with clients.
^Giving clients information and advice about participation in studies.
^Assisting in the collection of research information.
^Reviewing a proposed research plan with respect to its feasibility in a clinical setting and offering clinical expertise to improve the plan.
^Collaborating in the development of an ideas for a clinical research project.
^Participating on an institutional committee that reviews the ethical aspects of proposed research before it is undertaken.
^Evaluating completed research for its possible use in practice and using it when appropriate.
An understanding of nursing research can improve the depth and breadth of every nurse’s professional practice. Therefore, sound research evidence which tells us what does and does not work, and with whom and where it works best, is good news. Maximum use must be made of scientific and economic evidence. However, nurses clearly need other evidence arising from questions which can not be framed in scientific or economic terms. Nursing could spark some insightful debate concerning the nature and contribution of other types of knowledge, such as clinical intuition, which are so important to nurses. In summary, in embracing evidence-based nursing we must heed these considerations.
^ Nursing must discard its suspicion of scientific, quantitative evidence, gather the skills to critique it, and design imaginative trials which will assist in improving many aspects of nursing.
^ We must promulgate naturalistic studies by indicating their usefulness and confirming and explaining their rigour in investigating the social world of health care and clinical system.
^ More research is needed into reality and consequences of adopting evidence -based practice.
^ It must be emphasised that those concerns which are easily measured or articulated in health care .space is needed to recognise and explore the knowledge which comes from doing nursing and reflecting on it, to find new channels for speaking of concepts which are not easily accommodated within the disclosure of social and natural science.
In the United Kingdom, many nurses working in clinical trials as research nurses. Their role is crucial to the smooth running of trials and to help support study participants. Their knowledge puts them in a good position to help develop or support nursing research.