Introduction
Health care facilities cannot function without nurses and this means that these people play important roles in providing disease prevention and treatment services to patients and the society. In addition, they perform other supportive roles that are not necessarily related to their professions and this helps to keep the society healthy (Houser 39). This essay examines the roles of nursing research and how it can improve this profession.
Definition
Nursing is a profession that specializes in the provision of health care services to ensure patients get quality and timely services; moreover, it educates and informs the society about hygiene (Houser 43). Therefore, the services offered by nurses do not end at health care facilities but extend to schools, churches and homes. Research is a systematic process of finding answers for questions, explaining an occurrence and establishing ways of managing challenges facing the society (Burns 65).
The Role of Nurses in Research
Nurses play important roles in nursing research because they offer their services by examining patients and managing their situations. Nursing research involves looking for ways of improving the provision of health care services and maintaining professional conduct. Nurses are at the center of providing health care services because they are in direct and regular contact with patients (Polit 48). Therefore, they observe and talk with them and this allows physicians to know how to manage different situations. This research does not necessarily involve going out in the fields to conduct investigations. Nurses examine, treat and advise patients about their health and by doing this they learn various issues from them.
Secondly, nurses record their observations from different patients and can make conclusions about them just by looking at their records. This is an important way of collecting information from different patients about their health conditions and examining whether they have similarities or not (Haber 122). This information offers important details about disease patterns, occurrence and distribution. Health departments use this information to plan to manage diseases before they spread and affect people.
Lastly, nurses advise patients about how to improve their health conditions and this is an important way of preventing the spread of communicable diseases. In addition, they advise their family members and other people in the society about ways of controlling and managing diseases. This is an important way of ensuring that health policies produce the expected results and disease outbreaks are contained before they affect a huge population.
Advantages of Nursing Research
This research is conducted by nurses when they are doing their ordinary duties and this means that they get first hand information from patients and their families (Polit 71). The interaction between patients and nurses enables them to learn important issues about diseases and how they affect people. This information is used to develop effective measures of managing diseases and keeping people safe from infections.
Secondly, this research promotes teamwork among nurses and other stakeholders. It is important for nurses to work together with physicians, patients and their families to ensure disease prevention is a communal responsibility (Burns 71). It is easy to fight diseases and improve human health when people unite and understand one another. Lastly, this research is not expensive because nurses use patients as their subjects; therefore, they conduct their research at health care facilities and at the same time offer treatment and counseling services to patients.
Impacts of Nursing Research
Nursing research is important to nurses and patients because it enables them to effectively play their roles. First, it gives nurses skills and knowledge on how to manage various situations and this helps them to promote health care measures that are important in disease prevention (Houser 51). They find new treatments for different diseases and this widens their knowledge about health issues. In addition, this research enables nurses to monitor and predict the outcomes of various situations and this helps them and their patients to be prepared for the future.
Secondly, it helps governments to establish policies that facilitate the provision of better health care services by nurses. This is an important way of ensuring the needs of nurses are met to promote their efficiency and boost their morale (Tatano 20). Therefore, they conduct research to establish ways of improving their service delivery and help governments to act by increasing funding and upgrading medical facilities.
Lastly, this research enables nurses to be patients’ advocates and assure them that they are safe provided they follow instructions. Patients must be treated with a lot of care because they need special attention and this research enables nurses to know how to manage this situation. Therefore, they learn communication, observation and interaction skills that are important in the provision of health care services (Tatano 27).
On the other hand, this research enables patients to know that nurses work hard to improve their conditions. This gives them hope that their diseases will be treated; therefore, they cooperate with them and ensure they follow their instructions. Secondly, most patients think that they know what is good for them; therefore, they refuse to take advice from nurses (Polit 97). However, this research ensures that patients and nurses know each other and this eliminates doubts and fears that are serious impediments to treatment. This research enables nurses to offer evidence and patient-based treatment and this eliminates the possibilities of wrong diagnosis or prescription (Haber 129). Therefore, patients will be satisfied with the quality of services they receive from nurses.
Significance of Nursing Research
Nursing research generates knowledge that is important in disease prevention. This helps nurses to manage complicated health conditions before they go out of hand. In addition, it helps nurses to compel governments to form policies that will safeguard and improve the welfare of patients and nurses. This research enables people outside the nursing profession to understand the roles of nurses and how to make their work easier. Therefore, it promotes understanding among patients, their families and nurses and this improves the provision of disease treatment and prevention services.
Lastly, it enables nursing graduates to understand the challenges facing this profession and prepare to manage them. Research enables learners to know more about issues that were strange to them. In addition, it ensures they get accurate and credible information about various health issues. Therefore, when they start practicing they already know what to expect and how to manage it.
Conclusion
Nursing research is an important way of improving service delivery and generating knowledge about human health. Therefore, nurses and patients should cooperate and support each other to ensure this process succeeds. There is the need to use the information obtained from research processes to transform nursing and change people’s perceptions about this profession. Governments and well wishers should support nursing research to ensure nurses offer services that are useful in the modern world.
Works Cited
Burns, Nancy. Understanding Nursing Research: Building an Evidence-Based Practice. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2010. Print.
Haber, Judith. Nursing Research: Methods and Critical Appraisal for Evidence-Based Practice. New York: Mosby Publishers, 2012. Print.
Houser, Janet. Nursing Research (Nursing Research: Reading, Using and Creating Evidence). Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Learning, 2011. Print.
Polit, Denise. Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice. New York: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2011. Print.
Tatano, Cheryl. Resource Manual for Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice. New York: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2011. Print.