Do frontline clinical nursing staff, who are not engaged in research, value research evidence sufficiently for practice?

- Why evidence is an important part of nursing practice?

Within The Nursing and Midwifery code it states: “deliver care based on best available evidence” (p.6) and that we should “keep our knowledge and skills up-to date” (p.6). These two direct quotes state the importance of nurses, in all situations to keep up to date with all research that may have an impact on their practice. As the code is specific to each individual nurse - not aimed at a general guidance - it shows this is the role of each nurse (rather than nurses in general) should be doing it. Do nurses adhere to this further than mandatory training and the necessities of their CPD portfolio? Or do nurses – in the main – simply follow policies in blind faith that the research has been done and the policies they work to reflect best evidence?

- Emphasis of evidence in current pre-registration nursing education

Within pre-registration nursing education a major emphasis is placed on using and evidence base to inform all learning and all practices that are carried out, whilst in a clinical setting. This allows the student to know how to search for relevant research and use it to inform their practice, ensuring best patient outcomes (Christie et al, 2012). The decline in research focus from final year undergraduate nursing education to the first job as a qualified member of staff is enormous.

- Importance of being able to justify practice in current political climate (post-Francis)

In the wake of the Francis report, nurses are under more scrutiny by their employers, regulators and – perhaps more importantly – the general public than ever before. Accountability surely requires a nurse to understand an evidence base for their actions to validate their actions as being in the best interests of their patients rather than service requirements. Best quality practice in which a nurse can justify his/her actions based on research and evidence should be something that we all aspire to, regardless of recent (or any) reports. 

About the guest hosts

Leon Hinchcliffe @lhinchc1 - Adult Nursing Student, Student Representative and Care Maker. I am currently in my 3rd year of study at The University of Bradford. I am committed to the 6C’s and there ethos within Nursing care. I am enthused about entering the nursing community as I know it will push me to develop. My particular interests are critical care and emergency nursing, the area in which I am to work when I qualify.

Dorcas Lambert @dorcaselambert – I'm a married mum of two and a 3rd year Adult Nursing student at the University of Bradford. I'm also a Care Maker, Student Ambassador and Faculty Representative for the Faculty of Health Studies. Before embarking on my nursing degree I worked in various care settings including mental health, elderly and dementia care, and worked for 12 years with adults with learning disabilities.

References

Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives. NMC

Christie,J., Hamill, C. and Power, J.. (2012). How can we maximize nursing students' learning about research evidence and utilization in undergraduate, preregistration programmes? A discussion paper. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 68 (12) pp. 2789-2801.