NURS 414 Nursing Research: Home

Nursing research develops knowledge to:
Build the scientific foundation for clinical practice
Prevent disease and disability
Manage and eliminate symptoms caused by illness
Enhance end-of-life and palliative care

Nurses use research to provide evidence-based care that promotes quality health outcomes for individuals, families, communities and health care systems. Nurses also use research to shape health policy in direct care, within an organization, and at the local, state and federal levels. Nurses conduct research, use research in practice, and teach about research. ANA supports nursing research with a variety of resources such as the Research Toolkit.

Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Dean Martha Hill, PhD, RN, FAAN, puts it this way: "Nursing researchers ask: What do patients need? What do nurses do to meet those needs? How does that make a difference? To whom? Nurses also look at things important not just to patients and families, but to other members of the healthcare team: physicians, pharmacists, social workers."

It's those special traits, abilities, and roles that give nursing research a new and important role in the evolution of healthcare in America. Nursing research has begun to take advantage of a vast body of experiential and evidence-based knowledge and wisdom and curiosity amassed by nurses working with patients in all sorts of settings.

"Nursing research is being partnered with other healthcare research as a critical part of the larger healthcare picture," says Grady. "There's a new focus on prevention, and on interaction with the patient, which is the natural environment for nurses."

"Nurses see the breadth of experiences and are aware of the need to look comprehensively not only at physiological factors but at psychological, social, and emotional factors - the broader determinants of health," says Dean Hill. "It's marvelous multidisciplinary work."