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This session will describe the first of three studies conducted in which a patient focus enabled nurses to pursue scholarly activities integrating research into practice. The goal of this study was to encourage exposure of the nurses to the research process in addition to increasing the evidence base for informing nursing practice. The timing was optimal for both research and scholarly development in the practice setting. The process of creating a descriptive study began with the staff noting an increased need to tailor patient education handouts to a suitable reading level to reinforce verbal information due to shortened lengths of stay and complexity of treatment. Nurses expressed concern that the educational materials might not be meeting the needs of the patients. Other staff, including the physicians, were adamant about using the existing pre-printed patient education material. Evidence was needed to support nurses' attempts to open a dialogue with physician colleagues so that practice changes might be considered. The nurses agreed to participate in the study after learning about the importance of the data collection and its relative simplicity. An extensive literature search found relatively few published data about the reading level/or impairment of reading level of persons in the midst of acute psychiatric illness. The study was relevant to practice and was designed at the descriptive level to set the foundation of providing evidence for practice. An unexpected outcome of the study was that the study revealed the impact of low literacy on the quality of life and possible nursing interventions that could be executed.