“Nurse Researcher”.

What pops into your mind when you hear that phrase?

If you were like me, the phrase conjured up images of old gray-haired stern nurses who hadn’t touched a patient in fifty years, sitting with their noses between the pages of musty old library stacks.

I seriously thought that without a doctorate in nursing, there was no place for me in nursing research.

I was wrong.

There is a place for all of us in the research arena.

No matter what our education level might be.

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The American Nurses Association, in their position statement on Education for Participation in Nursing Research envisions research education as a continuum.

It doesn’t start at the doctorate level.

Surprised?

Join the club.

Take a look at the abilities - and responsibilities - of nursing research participation at each of the following degree levels:

• Associate Degree - Identify problems at the clinical level, participate in data collection and put research findings to use in day-to-day practice.

• Baccalaureate Degree - Look at research with a critical eye and use current standards to decide if the research findings are ready for prime time. In other words, is it time to put the findings into clinical practice? Ethical principals are a big part of the baccalaureate education, not the least of which is the protection of human subjects. Like their colleagues with associate degrees, the nurse with a BSN identifies clinical issues and utilizes research findings in daily practice. They are able to assist more experienced researchers with obtaining clinical site access and assessing appropriate methods of data collection.

• Master’s Degree - A nurse with an MSN takes on the role of clinical expert in the research world, from proposals to data collection through data analysis and the interpretation of the findings. Here is where the MSN prepared nurse is most valuable as they evaluate projects that focus on nursing therapies and quality assurance. As nursing leaders, they make sure the practice environment supports “scholarly inquiry, scientific integrity and scientific investigation of clinical nursing problems”, and lead the way in the integration of the research results in clinical practice.

• Doctoral Level - Now we are talking research! Nurses with doctoral preparation conduct research focused on theory generation/testing. They study philosophies of science and the patterns produced by those philosophies: theory development, ethical conduct and prevention of misconduct, “conceptual models” of nursing, methodologies and computer technology. Doctoral nurses design independent sutdies, but they also collaborate with other disciplines. This is the level where funding aquisition for research becomes imperative. Understanding that the results of the most important studies mean nothing if they are not received or comprehended by nurse clinicians (and the scientific community, policy makers and even lay people), the doctoral nurse will make sure the research results are disseminated, through journals, books, reports, presenting at scientific conferences, educating nurse educators and administrators, testifying about policy and utilizing the news media to get the word out.

So you see, every single one of us is somehow, someway tied into the world of nursing research. Perhaps our most important job is actually incorporating the research findings into our everyday clinical practice. The research is done for us, those of us who do direct patient care every day. It’s makes our work lives easier and it benefits our patients.

So…the next time you run across a research report and find yourself yawning through all the statistical mumbo-jumbo, remind yourself that underneath the very same “mumbo-jumbo” is the difference between legitimate research and research that may not hold true in clinical practice.

Nursing research does not have to be boring. It’s a fascinating aspect of our profession and I hope to learn as much as I can about the process.

Join me!

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Resource: American Nurses Association. (1994, April). Education for participation in nursing research. Retrieved June 12, 2007, from American Nurses Association Web Site: http://www.nursingworld.org/readroom/position/research/rseducat.htm