Putting the Research to the Nursing

I am very excited about my research this week. First, I have expanded my annotated bibliography for another class to include appropriate literature that could apply to that class on research and this independent study. Two books that need to be included are Osbornes's Health Literacy from A to Z Practical Ways to Communicate Your Health Message and the other Polit's and Beck's book, Nursing Research Principles and Methods. Both offer great info for the nurse researcher and the staff nurse. Reading both of these books re enforce the belief that there should be no reason why a practicing staff nurse can not validate what that nurse has seen as effective nursing practice.
Next, this research shows me the value of the role of the nurse as an educator might occur daily in the practice of nursing, but the research literature often takes on the privileges of academia discounting the front line experiences.
This brings me to the issues of hierarchy within the hospital setting.When the evaluation of available patient teaching material is done, who has the power to investigate, suggest, and decide upon the materials to be utilized? How is any input by floor nurses utilized in the actual purchasing of information? Then to do to the post-use evaluation: how is the patient and the nurse approached? How flexible are the procedures and policies already in place?

On another note, Rima Rudd's work with Study Groups involving the Navigation of Health care is taking on a new note.
Parade Magazine, 3/29/09 Page 10 has a little blip "Helping you through the Medical Maze". In this section the new job category of Patient Navigator(PN) is designed to help people acquire the best medical care they can and " improve the lives of patients, especially those among the socially disadvantaged". In the growing world of complex medical care, the Patient Navigator addresses the multitude of reasons (not just health care literacy) that addresses why patients might not be compliant. Never to be removed from the mix is the responsibility of patients to assume some of the responsibility for successful medical treatment.