When we began thinking about the theme for the 2005 National Nursing Administration Research Conference (NARC), we envisioned creating a venue for dialogue between nursing systems scientists and nursing administrations. It was clear that nursing administration and systems research had made huge strides in scope and visibility in recent years; however, the translation of studies on workforce, hospital and nursing home culture, and nurse-sensitive outcomes into the practice environment was not as evident. A major goal for the conference and selection of articles for this edition of Nursing Administration Quarterly was to highlight some of the exciting and innovative research in nursing administration and nursing care delivery systems and to illustrate how findings could inform and improve practice. The articles in this edition are only a sampling of the more than 100 podium and poster presentations at the NARC 2005 conference.
The articles published in this edition capture concepts and themes central to nursing practice today and in the future. The keynote address by Hinshaw emphasizes the critical work ahead by scientists, administrators, and policy makers to ensure that recommendations from the groundbreaking work of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Keeping Patients Safe become reality. Dr Hinshaw speaks to the 4 themes for the Health Care Organization Blueprint as developed by the Institute of Medicine committee that influence the work environment of nurses. The subsequent articles in the edition follow these 4 themes.
As part of management and leadership practices, Cummings outlines her journey from research questions to research findings on the effects of hospital restructuring and nursing leadership. Her article not only presents significant results but also gives an outstanding example of the doctoral research trajectory. Dr Cummings received the outstanding dissertation award from CGEAN for her work. The second article by Kalisch and Begeny provides a unique look at information styles of nursing staff. The authors propose that these styles influence how individuals deal with change and innovation.
The themes of workforce capability and work processes are represented in the articles by Lynn, Redman, Zomorodi, and Brewer. Workforce capability involves not only staffing issues but also recruitment and retention of nurses. Lynn, Redman, and Zomorodi propose that if nurses remain in the workforce, conditions must not be extreme (unlike canaries used to test for lethal gases in mines). Their study of almost 700 nurses provide challenging reasons to become a nurse as well as reasons for not being a nurse!! Brewer's work to find proxy measures for patient characteristics within a unique model for patient assignments relates to work processes. This study provides evidence that substituting similar measures from one model (acuity) to another (assignment), while efficient, is not always effective.
Developing an organizational culture for patient safety is the fourth theme of the Health Care Organization Blueprint. Looking more broadly at organization culture, Laschinger, Wong, and Greco examine staff empowerment and areas of work life using Kantor's work empowerment theory. The article on this topic received 1 of the 2 "Best Paper" awards at the NARC conference. Scalzi, Evans, Barstow, and Hostvedt take the issue of culture into the environment of nursing homes and provide much-needed information on the critical barriers and enablers to changing the culture within these settings.
The final article in this issue is the second keynote address from the NARC conference by Karlene Kerfoot. From her vantage point as a senior executive, Dr Kerfoot challenges us to consider how we can capitalize on the history and strengths of nursing to bridge the research to workplace gap.
Joyce A. Verran, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor
Nursing Systems Division College of Nursing, University of Arizona Tucson
Gerri Lamb, PhD, RN, FAAN
Independence Foundation and Wesley Chair Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing Emory University Atlanta, Ga
Theresa L. Carroll, PhD, RN, CNAA, Professor
Nursing Systems Department University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston