The 11th National Nursing Administration Research Conference (NARC), a biennial conference initiated by the Council on Graduate Education for Administration in Nursing (CGEAN), is featured in this issue of Nursing Administration Quarterly (NAQ) as new pathways are created from nursing science to the nursing workplace. Nurse scientists and nurse administrators were brought together in Tucson, Ariz, October 5 to October 8, 2005, to discuss issues relating to nursing's impact on improving health and the delivery of health and nursing services. Current nursing administration and nursing systems research was presented, resulting in this selection of the leading efforts in the field. We are very privileged to have Dr Joyce A. Verran and Dr Gerri Lamb, cochairs of this conference, as issue editors assisted by Dr Theresa L. Carroll, NAQ board member.
Gerri Lamb, PhD, RN, FAAN, is currently a Visiting Scholar and the Independence Foundation and Wesley Woods Chair at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, Atlanta, Ga. Previously, she was an Associate Dean and Associate Professor in the Systems Division at the University of Arizona, College of Nursing, and Senior Corporate Director of Community Services at Carondelet Health Network in Tucson, Ariz. Consistent with the themes of the 2005 NARC Conference, Dr Lamb has worked to bridge research and practice in her many roles as nursing administrator, teacher, and scientist. Her current research focus is on care coordination, transitional care, and quality and safety outcomes. Dr Lamb's ongoing commitment has been to design more effective and coordinated care delivery systems for older adults. She views nursing systems and administration research as a vital part of nursing science-needed today more than ever before to create better and safer healthcare environments for healthcare professionals and the patients and families they serve.
Joyce A. Verran, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Professor and Director of the Nursing Systems Division at the University of Arizona College of Nursing,
Tucson. She has a 22-year record of being funded for research in the area of nursing care delivery systems, including working environments in acute care, complexity of care in ambulatory settings, and nursing practice models in rural communities. In the last several years, her work has concentrated on the effect of environmental factors on patient health status outcomes, which are applicable to all clients across the continuum of care. Dr Verran teaches in Health Care Systems including theories applicable to the analysis of systems of care and complex data analysis. She is the author of several substantive and methodological articles in her area of research. Dr Verran serves on the expert panel on quality in the American Academy of Nursing. She has also served as Chair of the International Research Committee in Sigma Theta Tau, as well as the program committee and the board of directors.
Theresa L. Carroll, PhD, RN, is Professor, Nursing Systems, University of Texas-Houston, Health Sciences Center, School of Nursing, and Consultant-Career Coach at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, Tex. She has focused her teaching and practice in the area of nursing administration and community health. Dr Carroll has had research funded to study new graduates' adjustment to the hospital work world, nurse executive and manager job loss, the characteristics of nurse managers, and the leadership skills that women will need to succeed in the 21st century. Dr Carroll is also editor of the Research Abstract column for NAQ.
Translating nursing science into the busy, complex reality of the nursing workplace is oftentimes a greater challenge than many nurse executives feel is worth the effort. Yet, without data demonstrating outcomes of care and financial implications for cost improvement and containment, the nurse executive has little chance of leading the practice environment toward a successful nursing future. Both time and resources are needed to create a supportive nursing research environment in the workplace. Partnerships with nurse scientists and nurse administrators have advanced the development of nursing administrative and systems research through an evolutionary process over the last few decades, which has given full definition to administration as both an art and a science. The science of administration demands knowledge development and generation. The knowledge in the advancement of any science is directly related to the research data generated. The data produced support objectivity in effecting changes needed in the workplace. Nurse executives play a vital role in ensuring information is properly understood and related to individuals in a way that all can understand.
Data elements can be used as evidence in changing practice. In my earlier administrative career, I was able to use significant data elements at the state review board to defend staffing for bone marrow transplant patients. While this may seem less than significant in today's milieu of federal, state, and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations requirements for justification of nursing practice, all nurse leaders may find thinking out of the box and relating research to the workplace as the only way to go. Plan for systematic data collection, which allows for evidence of practice outcomes and can support innovative care programs. Look beyond the usual care environments and support community-based research, which includes public health, environmental health and safety, trauma and disaster preparation, and develop integrative strategies with education to promote systems research across the continuum of care.
As we move forward with information essential to administration of nursing, a new column from Randall Hudspeth, MS, APRN, CNS/NP, Director, Patient Care Services, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, Boise, Idaho, and Chair of the Idaho State Board of Nursing, is being introduced with this timely issue of NAQ. Randall serves on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Advanced Practice Advisory Council and will be sharing perspectives of regulatory issues impacting nursing administrative practice. The first column is Professional Boundary Crossings and Boundary Violations and Their Implications. Please let us know what your needs are and NAQ will try to address them in a timely manner. We want you to enhance your knowledge base in administrative practice through information sharing.
The hallmark of NAQ is to continuously provide readers with ways to enrich their repertoire of ways to address the multifaceted work environments that challenge their everyday professional lives. We are able to build a strong future for nursing administration and systems research with thought-provoking ways to empower staff, orchestrate technology, and integrate the past with the future to provide nursing excellence in the globalization of healthcare. Tomorrow's illiterate will be those who have not learned how to learn and increase use of research in the workplace as a major thrust for imprinting nursing's role and voice in the ever-changing healthcare environment.
Barbara J. Brown, EdD, RN, CNAA, FAAN, FNAP, Editor-in-Chief
Nursing Administration Quarterly