Key Insight 1

Nursing research was an entirely new concept for me upon starting my bachelor’s degree.  Truly, I didn’t even know that nurses could take on the role of being a researcher. The terms evidence-based practice, scoping review, and theoretical framework could have been an entirely different language for all I knew. Through my time within the college of nursing, I have now gained appreciation and insight as to why research and its application in healthcare can be monumentally important. Through my Evidence-Based Practice Course (NURS 400), I was able to explore what it meant to both research and understand evidence-based practice and the role it plays for nurses. Evidence-based practice is typically known as using the “best available evidence for decision-making and providing efficient and effective care for patients on a scientific basis” (Scott & McSherry, 2009). This means that in a clinical setting all procedures, care, and overall methods are only used or implemented because they have been proven to be effective and necessary for the function or care of someone’s health. It taught me that almost everything I do when I walk into a clinical day is not there because someone knew it would work, but rather because someone proved it had a benefit for patients. I also had the opportunity to see how this applies for those outside of the world of nursing academia and being a student. Through my assignment of interviewing a nurse on their experience with the world of evidence-based practice, I had the opportunity to see how this is not something that ends when I graduate. 

As seen in this interview, this nurse was challenged during the pandemic through working in unprecedented times where there wasn’t as much research on what to do for patients. This left them with a feeling of loss and fear. It was hard to imagine what a hospital would look like in a world without constant research and exploration into patient care. Research can help us face the great unknown so that we have something to look back on in times of trouble, and know that many problems can get solved if we choose to explore ways to fix a problem with all the knowledge we already have. However, I never knew the true extent of the amount of effort that went in to developing this evidence until I began the exploration on my own.  

Research writing is not your run of the mill paper you turn in for a class assignment. That, I learned very quickly. Through my countless hours of literature reviews, editing wording, and citing source after source, I discovered that it is closer to a new language than something familiar. I believe that through this experience I not only had the opportunity to learn a new style of writing, but also learned to take constructive criticism in stride. It is a humbling experience to send a copy of your writing and upon return it is marked with more suggested edits or changes than you can count. As you can see from this early copy of my honors thesis, calling it a work-in-progress was not an exaggeration, as this is all of the edits for just one paragraph. Imagine the amount of edits on a 30-page draft!

Over time, I learned that my primary mentor Dr. Pamela Wright and my secondary mentor Dr. Robin Dawson never sent these changes back because they thought I couldn’t do it, but rather the opposite. Starting just from an abstract or a literature review, all the way to full drafts, feedback and editing is the backbone of what I did while writing my manuscript. I am forever grateful that these women took the countless drafts I gave them and saw the potential in my writing to make the necessary changes and teach me this style of writing along the way.  The many hours I put into making edits, googling the best way to cite a particular source, or even formatting data tables puts any English paper I’ve written to shame. Learning to really fight my urges to write in passive voice or remembering that no matter how simple the concept you must cite your sources is now something engrained in most any writing I do. While it is still a work in progress, I can say that I feel infinitely more comfortable both writing and accepting the criticism that comes with wanting to become a better writer and researcher. Even further, accepting criticism is a part of life regardless of career. Accepting criticism as a nurse can help teach us the best way to care for patients and protect their well-being at all times. It can be a difficult thing to master, but it is incredibly important for growth as a nurse and as a person that gives you the opportunity to look out for yourself and others. Through this experience, I now have a much greater appreciation for all of the nurses, doctors, and researchers that have put millions of hours into making healthcare what it is today. We would not have the technology, protocols, or understanding of the human body without those who are willing to cite their sources from day one. The research I have done is not even a drop in the bucket of the time and knowledge that has been generated by others to advance the understanding of caring for others and for this I am incredibly grateful. It is not easy to go through the steps that we find tedious in healthcare but knowing that each step was established and generated for a purpose gives me the motivation to always hold myself to the highest standards of healthcare. However, thinking to my own classroom experience, I know that I am far from the only one who has to hold myself to this standard. Working through my own project and reading the work of others has shown me that everyone must face criticism and the honesty of others to ensure that your work is correct and meaningful. Accepting the opinions and work of others is necessary to ensure that all evidence-based practice is continuously held to a high standard that will reflect the most current and accurate knowledge available at the time your work was done. I would like to believe that Evidence-based practice is built on the foundation of accepting criticism and knowledge from the research community to help support each other and the pursuit of knowledge. 

 The changing environment of healthcare will constantly spark the need for new research, and I am forever glad that I now have a greater understanding of a process that will be integral to my career and know that I also have the power to contribute to this body of knowledge.