Nurses follow the yellow brick road to research

Staff nurses followed the yellow brick road to their Nursing Research Idea Fair April 15.

The fair was sponsored by Humility of Mary Health Partners’ Nursing Research Council at the St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center.

Mary Ann Turjanica, Nursing Research Council, says they wanted to provide an opportunity for nurses to go beyond their everyday duties and participate in research.

The study chosen will be one of next year’s formal clinical research projects. She says since some tend to shy away from academic research, they tried to make it less intimidating with a fun and lighthearted theme.

“We try to add a little fun for the learning process,” said Turjanica.

Using the “Wizard of Oz” theme, the nurses dressed as the characters and broke down their 11-step research process into a route on the yellow brick road.

The hospital’s Azalea Room was filled with research proposals ranging from how patient and employee rest periods will increase overall satisfaction to why pneumatic compression devices are important.

The winner of the fair will become coinvestigator of their research study, participate in planning meetings for the study and be co-author of the results.

The winning research proposal will be announced during Nurses Week in May.