Perspectives
Researching About Research MARY C. BRUCKER, PhD, CNM, FACNM
I Mary C. Brucker, PhD, CNM, FACNM, is an assistant professor, adjunct, at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and she is the editor of Nursing for Women’s Health. DOI:10.1111/1751-486X.12058
http://nwh.awhonn.org
I suspect many of us could figure out that the term research was derived by joining together words to mean “search again” or “continue searching.” But I was surprised to discover that the origins of search also form the basis of the word circle or circus. This caused me to think about how dynamic research really is; it’s going back to the process of identifying a problem and then conducting evaluations, reevaluations and, ultimately, identifying new challenges. It’s a circular process that is, or should be, neverending and one that permeates our personal and professional lives. (Consider life before Google or Bing—how did we ever research what refrigerator to buy and where to buy it?) Research is integral to nursing practice. Remember how many times we used to hear (or perhaps said), We always do it this way. In other words, don’t ask why. Evidence-based
practice is changing that ritualistic behavior, albeit sometimes slowly. I am seeing policies and procedures being built on evidence, and nurses questioning practices on the basis of research information. However, challenges remain. I am sometimes bewildered when research is pigeonholed into a strict interpretation. If it isn’t a randomized, controlled, double-blinded, multicenter, multisite, prospective study with an unfathomable multisyllabic title that has outside funding, then it isn’t research. Right? Wrong. One of the great advances in nursing today is the wealth of research being conducted by nurses alone or within health care teams. It’s essential that the type of basic nursing that generates new knowledge continues, but it’s equally important that projects documenting
© 2013, AWHONN
365
Perspectives
implementation and evaluation of the findings be conducted and disseminated. And sharing that information is essential. Sixty years ago this year, Jonas Salk published the first report on use of the polio vaccine from a pilot trial. Did you
One of the great advances in nursing today is the wealth of research being conducted by nurses alone or within health care teams know that several days before the report appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Salk announced the results on CBS national radio? He knew that research findings weren’t useful unless they are used. In this issue of Nursing for Women’s Health, you’ll find a roundtable discussion with several prominent nurse researchers who attempt to dispel myths about conducting research and
share their thoughts about how they started their research careers. A commonality among these talented individual seems to be a curious mind and a desire to make certain that the care being given is the best. And the other similarity is a desire to not be Lone Rangers, but rather to work with teams, and then to share the findings. Note that researcher is not necessarily a fulltime title, nor are special credentials required. I often joke that the major degree to have to conduct research should be 98.6o (or 37o for our Celsius friends). Fortunately, here at the journal we are receiving more manuscripts from nurses who share their information about quality improvement or different types of implementation projects. Yes, this is research, too. It’s through sharing of the positives and negatives of making the changes in practice that brings research full circle and avoids a three-ring circus of everyone doing their “own thing” or reinventing the wheel another time. NWH
s n o i t a l u t a r g n o C to this year’s Nursing for Women’s Health award winners!
Sharon Hitchcock, MSN, RNC recipient of the Excellence in Writing Award
Mary L. Padden, PhD, APN-C, FN-CSA recipient of the Reviewer of the Year Award
366
Nursing for Women’s Health
Volume 17
Issue 5
Researching About Research MARY C. BRUCKER, PhD, CNM, FACNM
I Mary C. Brucker, PhD, CNM, FACNM, is an assistant professor, adjunct, at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and she is the editor of Nursing for Women’s Health. DOI:10.1111/1751-486X.12058
http://nwh.awhonn.org
I suspect many of us could figure out that the term research was derived by joining together words to mean “search again” or “continue searching.” But I was surprised to discover that the origins of search also form the basis of the word circle or circus. This caused me to think about how dynamic research really is; it’s going back to the process of identifying a problem and then conducting evaluations, reevaluations and, ultimately, identifying new challenges. It’s a circular process that is, or should be, neverending and one that permeates our personal and professional lives. (Consider life before Google or Bing—how did we ever research what refrigerator to buy and where to buy it?) Research is integral to nursing practice. Remember how many times we used to hear (or perhaps said), We always do it this way. In other words, don’t ask why. Evidence-based
practice is changing that ritualistic behavior, albeit sometimes slowly. I am seeing policies and procedures being built on evidence, and nurses questioning practices on the basis of research information. However, challenges remain. I am sometimes bewildered when research is pigeonholed into a strict interpretation. If it isn’t a randomized, controlled, double-blinded, multicenter, multisite, prospective study with an unfathomable multisyllabic title that has outside funding, then it isn’t research. Right? Wrong. One of the great advances in nursing today is the wealth of research being conducted by nurses alone or within health care teams. It’s essential that the type of basic nursing that generates new knowledge continues, but it’s equally important that projects documenting
© 2013, AWHONN
365
Perspectives
implementation and evaluation of the findings be conducted and disseminated. And sharing that information is essential. Sixty years ago this year, Jonas Salk published the first report on use of the polio vaccine from a pilot trial. Did you
One of the great advances in nursing today is the wealth of research being conducted by nurses alone or within health care teams know that several days before the report appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Salk announced the results on CBS national radio? He knew that research findings weren’t useful unless they are used. In this issue of Nursing for Women’s Health, you’ll find a roundtable discussion with several prominent nurse researchers who attempt to dispel myths about conducting research and
share their thoughts about how they started their research careers. A commonality among these talented individual seems to be a curious mind and a desire to make certain that the care being given is the best. And the other similarity is a desire to not be Lone Rangers, but rather to work with teams, and then to share the findings. Note that researcher is not necessarily a fulltime title, nor are special credentials required. I often joke that the major degree to have to conduct research should be 98.6o (or 37o for our Celsius friends). Fortunately, here at the journal we are receiving more manuscripts from nurses who share their information about quality improvement or different types of implementation projects. Yes, this is research, too. It’s through sharing of the positives and negatives of making the changes in practice that brings research full circle and avoids a three-ring circus of everyone doing their “own thing” or reinventing the wheel another time. NWH
s n o i t a l u t a r g n o C to this year’s Nursing for Women’s Health award winners!
Sharon Hitchcock, MSN, RNC recipient of the Excellence in Writing Award
Mary L. Padden, PhD, APN-C, FN-CSA recipient of the Reviewer of the Year Award
366
Nursing for Women’s Health
Volume 17
Issue 5
