Nursing research is thought to be the single most important and necessary component of an Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) that illuminates sound, rigorously performed data for the purpose of increasing positive patient outcomes. These two aspects of nursing practice, research and EBP, are critical for nurses to be able to understand, perform, implement, evaluate, and disseminate as part of their personal practices, for our patients and, for the benefit of the nursing profession as a whole. As proposed by Polit and Beck (2012), nursing research must be performed in a systematic fashion utilizing methods carefully scrutinized and analyzed to ensure the validity and generalizability of a particular research study, which helps to support the overall trustworthiness of the study itself. From the creation of the research hypothesis to the evaluation of statistical values that describe the value of a study, the Nursing Research curriculum provided a sound base from which to start examining research and developing a scientific spirit of inquiry that I know I can use to improve my own practice and my patient’s outcomes.

     Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the nursing research class was producing a research paper utilizing sound evidence. As a nurse working at our local Level 2 Trauma hospital, both in trauma step-down and ICU, I have come cared for many patients who have suffered from traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). This particular group of patients has always intrigued me, but I have always felt limited in my experience with them because I have only provided them care in their acute and critical phases of injury. While there are definitely differences to be noted between the acute and critical care provided to the TBI patient, I also realized that their care needs continue beyond the hospital setting to both rehab and home. With the TBI, the patients and their families have very special needs and it occurred to me that I had little idea of what they experienced once they were discharged from the hospital. Therefore, I decided to investigate what the quality of life was like for patients who survived TBI and how they integrated back into the community.

     I discovered through my investigation of the TBI patient that their re-integration and quality of life was dependent on a number of factors. First of all, many TBI patients suffer from long-term emotional sequelae due to damage to parietal-frontal lobe of their brains which causes them to be emotionally labile and often inappropriate: two behaviors that have the potential to create social isolation as their previous peers have difficulty identifying with them any longer. Second, many TBI patients also experience a sense of disconnection from the rest of the world and may even feel like the person they used to be has been replaced with someone completely different. These internal changes are frequently seen as being responsible for causing other psychological problems with the TBI patient including: depression, substance abuse, and loss of self-esteem. These situations may become further exacerbated by limitations in the ability of the person to perform ADLs from other damage to the motor control areas of the brain or other concurrent physical traumas. Finally, because of the many changes that challenge the TBI survivor, they often require the ongoing assistance and support of their families who typically become their primary caregivers. The situation that develops between the TBI patient and the caregiver tends to be a less than symbiotic relationship and without the proper education and support from the discharging acute care setting and rehab facilities, the relationship has the capacity to become quickly strained and leading to negative consequences.

     In conclusion, while I learned a great deal about TBI patients and their perceived quality of life following injury, there was so much more that I gleaned from the formal educational process of performing research. At every turn, I was challenged to use critical thinking skills to negotiate my way through the volumes of researchable material to find what was most appropriate and valid to the construction and support of my research question. I came to also understand how important performing research is to nursing and how to best proceed with conducting primary research in such a way as to eliminate the suspicion of bias. I think that as I continue to grow as a nurse and a student, the skills and knowledge that were honed through the nursing research class will help me to continue to advance and enflame my spirit of inquiry. Now, more than ever, I feel prepared and empowered to seek answers through independent research or as part of a group of researcher and be confident that the answers I find to the questions I ask will somehow benefit my patients, me, and the nursing community as a whole.