Research . . . in health

Geneviève L. Picard

Each day, researchers at the University of Ottawa School of Nursing roll up their sleeves to help the general population “enrich their health.” As the Latin saying goes, “good health is worth much more than riches.”  

Whether it is showing feeding techniques to a new mother, guiding a cancer patient through treatment choices, or helping the elderly live with dignity, the public is very aware of the importance of nurses in daily life. However, we are somewhat less aware of the diversity of research conducted in nursing science.

Betty Cragg, director of the School of Nursing, explains that research enriches the way health care professionals function, consequently improving the services offered to patients, their families and the community.

“Nursing tends to be very ‘how-to’ oriented,” explains Cragg. “For example, supporting patients who are making decisions that are literally about life or death.”

Best practices

Together, researchers Barbara Davies and Nancy Edwards head the Nursing Best Practices Research Unit. In cooperation with the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, the Unit develops, implements, disseminates and evaluates “guidelines,” which are in fact extensive guidebooks detailing best practices.

“We evaluate whether these guidelines are changing the way nurses go about their professional nursing practice and the effect on patient care,” explains Davies.

To date, 29 guidelines have been completed and eight have been translated into French. The guidelines deal with various subjects such as promoting control of asthma, integrating smoking cessation into daily nursing practice, and assessment and management of foot ulcers for people with diabetes. “You will never look at a diabetic’s foot the same way once you have read the guidelines,” points out Davies.

According to Davies, most organizations notice an immediate improvement in patients’ health when the best practices guidelines are put into place.

Critical Analysis

The primary focus of Professor Dave Holmes is in public health and forensic psychiatry. He has a particular interest in at-risk populations.

Holmes recently completed a study funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) on the unsafe sexual practices in gay bath houses in Montreal and Toronto. Holmes found that men who have sex with men often show resistance towards public health messages that highlight the risks of unprotected anal sex. He is presently researching the experience of nurses working in correctional facilities.

Nursing research is not inclusive to hospital settings – far from it. Research is conducted in such places as old age homes, schools and community centres.

“Research conducted at our School of Nursing is recognized at many levels: provincial, national and international,” says Denis Prud’homme, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. “This is made even more obvious by the significant increase in applications to our graduate studies, especially at the doctoral level. We will see double the number of admissions to our PhD program next year.”