Nursing Research Council
The Mission of the Nursing Research Council is to position nursing research and evidence based practice as two critical elements basic to the provision of nursing care in the Covenant Health. The Council aims to increase the ability of all nursing staff to provide evidence based care, to increase involvement of members of the nursing staff in research and to facilitate nursing research at Covenant Health System conducted by professionals from other institutions.
Key strategies used by the Council are educating, modeling, collaborating and communicating. These four strategies characterize activities within the Council and its work with individual members of the nursing staff, other Councils, the Nursing Congress, other health professionals in the institution, students, and researchers from other institutions.
Progress toward accomplishing the council's aims in the three years since its inception includes the following:
The Nursing Research Council has enjoyed and learned from the membership of a doctorate level consultant who actively contributes to our education and projects. As important as are the specific results of Council activities thus far, even more important is the development of the Council's awareness of its importance as a vehicle to assure the provision of excellent nursing care.
Evaluation studies have been completed by teams from the Council membership working in conjunction with other nursing staff
- Quarterly surveys by NRC members to evaluate central line sites for the correct placement and use of BioPatch. Evaluation of the sites for the condition of the dressing and patient's skin is also included.
- Designated members participate in gathering data on our patients placed on the 'Severe Sepsis Protocol' and the Chair submits monthly data to the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC)
- NRC conducted a survey on the knowledge and use of Evidence Based Practice literature by the nursing staff with 486 nurses responding.
- The NRC conducted an evaluation of the knowledge and use of NG tubes with 116 nurses responding.
Several education sessions in regard to evidence based practice and to research process have been held for the Council and for other staff
- IHI 100 Thousand Lives: Bundles, Participation, Purpose
- Conceptual models related to Evidence Based Practice, techniques for framing clinical questions amenable to search of the literature, and skills in performing a computerized search and analysis of the literature
- Written proposal for a research project that was submitted by a NRC member for her Masters in Nursing preparation. The project is entitled 'Critical Incident Stress Management: Can It Increase Nurse Retention In The Hospital Setting"?
- The process of developing and evaluating measurement tools in research projects.
- Data collection and results of the Tylenol project by NRC member on identification of the problem of unintentional overdose and the steps implemented to significantly decrease its occurrence.
- Critically Analyzing Quantitative Research Studies.
Collaboration with other health professionals in several evidence based projects such as those promoted through IHI has resulted in improved care compared to national benchmarks
- Preventing Central Line Infection (CLI)
- Members of the NRC performed a small assessment of central line care before the introduction of the IHI central line infection (CLI) bundle elements.
- Members developed education programs to help nursing staff become aware of the importance of the bundle elements and the proper use of BioPatch
- Quarterly evaluations on central line care have been performed by the NRC.
- Preventing Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP)
- Members of the NRC developed education on the principles of the VAP bundle elements and the importance of proper use of oral care kits.
- Members learned together the principles of performing inter-rater reliability on an oral assessment tool.
- Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC)
- Members of the NRC have been actively involved in the development and approval of our 'Severe Sepsis Protocol'.
- Members developed and presented education to nursing and medical staff on the use of the protocol and the importance of the IHI bundle elements. Protocols and use of the new ScvO2 monitors, catheters and probes were also developed.
- Members play a major role in the data collection process and submit the data to the SSC.
Poster presentations at professional meetings
- 'Instituting a Severe Sepsis Protocol and a Best Practice Change'
- 'SafeSet: Use of a closed system for blood draws from an arterial line or CVP line'
- Tylenol-Evidence: A Powerful Force for Positive Change to Best Practice'
- 'Preventing Central Line Infection With the IHI Bundle and BioPatch'
- Posters presented at: 1. Nursing Congress, 2. Nursing Research Council, 3. Cardiac Symposium, 4. Trauma Symposium, 5. Physicians Dining Room
- One publication in a regional nursing journal
- Congratulations to Regina Phariss, RN, NRC member and Medication Nurse Specialist, for her recent article publication. Regina's article, 'Unintentional Overdose', appeared in the December 4, 2006 issue of 'Nurse Week'
- Collaboration with the Policy and Procedure Council demonstrating a systematic approach to identifying best practice for revision of a policy/procedure
- Literature review entitled 'Feeding Tube Placement and Verification: Established Methods in Review' performed by NRC member and submitted to the Policy and Procedure Council for policy review and revision.
- Outlined procedure for the use of the ScvO2 catheters and probes in Early Goal Directed Therapy (EGDT) submitted to the P/P Council for review and policy completion.
