Paper
Monday, November 5, 2007
422
Magnet Journey: Advantages in Using Participant Action Research Methods to Identify NANDA, NIC and NOC Labels for Specific Populations
Crista N. Minthorn, RN, C, MSN, ANP, APRN, BC, Nursing Department, Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, Hackettstown, NJ, USA
Nursing departments in U.S. hospitals have begun to pursue Magnet designation. Of the 14 Forces of Magnetism, meeting the criteria for nursing research remains one of the most challenging. The most pressing research problems in hospital care relate to patient care, yet studies of patient care are difficult for novice researchers and costly for the institution. One type of research, however, that addresses an important research problem, and can also be done by nurses at most hospitals, is consensus validation by practicing nurses of the nursing diagnoses (NANDA), nursing interventions (NIC) and patient outcomes (NOC) that are most important for patient care of local populations. These categories need to be identified for standards of care and electronic health records. The purpose of this paper is to describe the administrative structure and benefits to practicing nurses and the hospital system of conducting consensus validation studies to identify the NANDA, NIC and NOC (NNN) labels that are important for patient care. This type of research, using participant action research methods, is conducted away from the bedside, so it is not affected by factors in the clinical environment. The amount of financial support needed is less than studies done directly with patients; the cost of this study will be presented. An additional benefit is that the participant nurses attain a stronger sense of professional nursing practice.
Strategies that our institution used to conduct this study were: (a) collaborating with experts in NNN and nursing research, (b) using existing organizational structures to disseminate the value of using NNN to the professional staff, and (c) presenting a specific research project to engage staff nurses in the pursuit of nursing research. Studies with practicing nurses to identify relevant NNN labels for quality patient care are a valuable way to meet Magnet’s research requirement.