How Do We as Nurses Move the Science Forward? One Step at a Time

摘要

The conduct of nursing research uses systematic inquiry to generate new knowledge (Shively, Fitzsimmons, & Verderber, 1995). As nurse clinicians and nurse researchers, we often ask questions about nursing practice, such as "Why do we take blood pressure this way?" "What if the blood pressure cuff won't fit, or they have a wound on their upper arm?" "How reliable is a blood pressure taken in their lower arm?" Or as nurses, we are often investigating less painful ways of doing things. Finger stick glucose testing can be uncomfortable. Could blood sugars be accurately checked from a less painful site, such as the earlobe? Or maybe as a cardiac surgical nurse, you have asked, "Why do post-op patients have such difficulty with gastrointestinal distress?" "What can nurses do to try to prevent this?" "Could offering warm or room temperature fluids for the first few days postoperatively help prevent this problem?" These basic clinical research questions have been addressed by the use of systematic inquiry and are presented in this edition of Clinical Nursing Research.