Query about nursing research at St. Joseph Hospital

Question I received recently from a fellow nurse, and my response to her....

Hi Dana,
I am taking over the Nursing research council here at xxxxx and absolutely love your website. I love the idea of your journal club, can you give me some more details on how you got that set up and has it been successful.
Also, how are your meetings set up for the NRC. Do you just have an agenda and give updates on all projects or do you incorporate some work time in those meetings.
I appreciate any advice you can give me because I truly feel like I am floundering. I have been ... here for about 3 years and this new position lacks a team that is motivated and most are floundering like I am and it is important for me to instill motivation and direction. Please help.

xxx- Good luck... I've been at this for ~4 years, and have periods when I feel "success" and those when I wonder what's going on. Patient care is definitely the priority of staff - not nursing research.
My journal clubs have not been wildly successful in terms of #s attending. However, each session (5-6 per year generic sessions, and unit-based sessions upon request) has a heterogeneity of attendees (at this point, I'm still selecting the articles, and the nurses come... usually NOT having read the article). I give an article synopsis, emphasizing Why the authors did the study (I ususally do research articles), what they did (methods... briefly), what they found (briefly), and the so what? Then, the discussion usually takes off on how this might be applicable in our setting. Even though I've been disappointed in turnout, and in the fact that nurses aren't reading, the sessions (around 1 hour at lunchtime - everyone brings lunch) are usually lively, and I think the nurses love the time to really talk about nursing and what the topic is outside of the normal work environment. A couple have led to practice changes - one about using factsheets has led to several projects that use factsheets to disseminate knowledge, one on effects of shiftwork on nurses added to the discussion on whether nightshift nurses should be allowed to sleep on their breaks, etc.
Regarding our Research Council meetings. We meet 10 times per year for 2 hours. Up to this point, meetings have included mostly reports of activities. The first year I did a 20 minute "educational brief" on various research topics to bring folks up to speed on research terminology. Those have not been repeated, but we have new members all the time, so probably should be. We are embarking on a new venture this year .... Did You Know? posters. A task force is working on how to roll this out. Research council meetings (3-4 per year) will be spent actively working on these posters which will involve rotating materials on poster templates and "pushing" these out to units. Optimally, topics will be unit-specific. This is an idea as yet... so will keep you posted.

Julie's picks from the nursing literature for Feb 2008

Patrons of Burlew Medical Library may retrieve the full text of many of these articles via our library web site or call the library to request copies.

1. Fehder WP. Nursing care & management of pathological oral conditions among women and children. MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing. 2008 Jan-Feb; 33(1): 38-44. (31 ref) Burlew carries this journal AN: 2009759201 NLM Unique Identifier: 18158526.

2. 2009766135. Leung SF. Chong SYC. Arthur DG.
Title Reducing medication errors: development of a new model of drug
administration for enhancing safe nursing practice.
Asian Journal of Nursing. 2007 Sep; 10(3): 191-9. (15 ref)

3. Labeau S. Vereecke A. Vandijck DM. Claes B. Blot SI. Critical care nurses' knowledge of evidence-based guidelines for preventing infections associated with central venous catheters: an evaluation questionnaire. American Journal of Critical Care. 2008 Jan; 17(1): 65-72. (28 ref) Burlew carries this journal AN: 2009753997 NLM Unique Identifier: 18158

4. Pinto BM. Floyd A. Methodologic issues in exercise intervention research in oncology. Seminars in Oncology Nursing. 2007 Nov; 23(4): 297-304. (59 ref) Burlew carries this journal AN: 2009742237 NLM Unique Identifier: 18022057.

5. Knobf MT. Musanti R. Dorward J. Exercise and quality of life outcomes in patients with cancer. Seminars in Oncology Nursing. 2007 Nov; 23(4): 285-96. (67 ref) Burlew carries this journal AN: 2009742236 NLM Unique Identifier: 1802205

6. Rourke DR. The hospital library as a "Magnet Force" for a research and evidence-based nursing culture: a case study of two Magnet hospitals in one health system. Medical Reference Services Quarterly. 2007 Fall; 26(3): 47-54. (15 ref) AN: 2009651473 NLM Unique Identifier: 17915630.

7. Walker L. Lamont S. The use of antiembolic stockings. Part 1: a literature review. British Journal of Nursing. 2007 Dec 13-2008 Jan 9; 16(22): 1408-12. (23 ref) AN: 2009774725.
NLM Serial ID Number

8. Murphy TH. Labonte P. Klock M. Houser L. Falls prevention for elders in acute care: an evidence-based nursing practice initiative. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly. 2008 Jan; 31(1): 33-9. (14 ref) Burlew has some online access, no print issues. AN: 2009774859.

9. Lynch M. Dahlin CM. The National Consensus Project and National Quality Forum preferred practices in care of the imminently dying. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing. 2007 Nov-Dec; 9(6): 316-22. (34 ref) Burlew carries this journal AN: 2009751680.

10. Eilers J. Million R. Prevention and management of oral mucositis in patients with cancer. Seminars in Oncology Nursing. 2007 Aug; 23(3): 201-12. (71 ref) Burlew carries this journal AN: 2009738961 NLM Unique Identifier: 17693347.

11. Rodriguez W. McCarty D. O'Donnell A. Kane J. Nolan S. Carlese C. How much blood is enough? An evidence-based study on the minimum blood volume required for laboratory tests... Oncology Nursing Society 32nd Annual Congress, April 24-27, 2007, Las Vegas, NV. Oncology Nursing Forum. 2007 Mar; 34(2): 527. Burlew carries this journal AN: 2009561732.

12. Wiener B. Chacko S. Cron SG. Cohen MZ. Guideline development and education to insure accurate and consistent pulmonary artery wedge pressure measurement by nurses in intensive care units. DCCN: Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing. 2007 Nov-Dec; 26(6): 263-8. (4 ref) Burlew carries this journal AN: 2009741185 NLM Unique Identifier: 18090148.

13. McAndrew L. Schneider SH. Burns E. Leventhal H. Does patient blood glucose monitoring improve diabetes control? A systematic review of the literature. Diabetes Educator. 2007 Nov-Dec; 33(6): 991-1010. (62 ref) Burlew carries this journal

14. Povey RC. Clark-Carter D. Diabetes and healthy eating: a systematic review of the literature. Diabetes Educator. 2007 Nov-Dec; 33(6): 931-59. (37 ref) Burlew carries this journal AN: 2009749033 NLM Unique Identifier: 18057263.

15. Horton K. Tschudin V. Forget A. The value of nursing: a literature review. Nursing Ethics. 2007 Nov; 14(6): 716-40. (83 ref) AN: 2009707487 NLM Unique Identifier: 17901183.

16. Gardetto NJ. Carroll KC. Management strategies to meet the core heart failure measures for acute decompensated heart failure: a nursing perspective. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly. 2007 Oct-Dec; 30(4): 307-20. (24 ref) Burlew has some online access, no print issues. AN: 2009683482 NLM Unique Identifier: 17873567.