Cooperative Nursing Research Partnerships
The innovative research partnership between UH Manoa Nursing, The Queen’s Medical Center (QMC) and Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) is celebrating its 9th successful year. Each year, clinicians and researchers partner together to improve healthcare through research and evidence-based practice.
The Cooperative Nursing Research Partnership funds nursing research projects that support development of nursing science and translation of research to clinical practice. Until 2015, a Request for Proposals was simultaneously sent to nurses at the clinical sites and faculty at UH Manoa Nursing to identify topics of mutual interest to a nurse and faculty member. A proposal was developed by the nurse-faculty pair and scored by researchers from both sites. The team spent the subsequent two-years implementing their study with an expectation of dissemination and translation to clinical practice.
Starting this year, the grant has evolved to a new model. Instead of nurse-faculty pairs, the grant is now incorporated into the QMC’s Nursing Research Fellowship. Four teams of nurses are in the process of writing their proposals with the assistance of QMC faculty mentors Rene’e Latimer and Kathleen Johnson, and UH faculty mentors Estelle Codier and Debra Mark. This new program includes six-monthly didactic sessions that culminate in complete proposals ready for submission to the QMC Institutional Review Board. The second year will consist of monthly didactic sessions to facilitate implementation, analysis, and dissemination of each project.
Across the three sites, a total of 14 projects have been funded and have impacted healthcare delivery in a variety of settings and patient populations. For example, one study tested the impact of comedy on pain levels in patients receiving chemotherapy and found it beneficial. Another study improved diabetes management and reduced readmission rates by implementing a nurse-managed specialty clinic. And yet another study improved temperature management of traumatic brain injured patients. Patients across QMC are benefiting from the work of these nursing research teams.
Clinician team members benefit by increasing their knowledge and skills related to the conduct of research and presentation of findings. Nurses bring a wealth of information to this partnership by identifying problem areas amenable to research. Faculty members have the opportunity to develop their program of research, expand their research skill sets with new designs, gain access to patient populations, and disseminate findings. Local, national, and international communities reap benefits from shared results; the partnership has successfully published three manuscripts and made 19 conference presentations.
We look forward to another successful year and will continue to capitalize on the mutual benefits of this sustained nursing research partnership. If you have any questions about the Cooperative Nursing Research Partnership or any of the projects, contact Rene’e Latimer at rlatimer@queens.org or Debra Mark at debramar@hawaii.edu.