Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice

The Department of Nursing Research and EBP partners and collaborates with our academic colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute, Stanford Medicine Center for Improvement, and the Stanford Office of Research and  Patient Care Services (ORPCS). Within the department, Nurse-Scientists conduct independent research and collaborate with various disciplines and departments in the conduct of research, evidence-based practice (EBP), and quality projects. As a department, we provide comprehensive services to support nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers, child life specialists, chaplains, and other colleagues who provide patient care with the following: research design, Institutional Review Board (IRB) application preparation, grant writing, dissemination, educational workshops, and evidence-based practice projects.

Mission and vision of  the department

  • Our mission is to promote inquiry, innovate practice, and disseminate discovery.
  • Our vision is to be internationally recognized for nursing research.

Consultative services

Members of the Department of Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) offer guidance and consultation services that can be individualized to help meet your needs. 

The Department of Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice partners with our Stanford colleagues listed above. Together with these Stanford affiliates, we are committed to making new discoveries that translate to improving care for our patients.

Research Training

Nursing Research Fellowship

The Department offers a Research Fellowship over a 24-month period for nurses who have a master’s or doctoral degree. The fellowship provides four hours per week of protected time, or a total of 208 hours. The goal of the Research Fellowship is for nurses to develop a clinically focused research proposal and to conduct a study. The program accepts study proposals that are observational, cohort, case-control, quasi-experimental, randomized control trials and qualitative in nature. The overall expectations are for the nurse to develop a research study that can produce results that are generalizable. At the completion of this program, the nurse will create an abstract, poster, presentation, and manuscript that can be disseminated locally, nationally, or internationally.

Nursing Research Internship

The Department offers an internship program for nurses at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health (SCH) who are interested in learning more about maternal child health research and scientific writing. Interns will partner with a member of the Department of Nursing Research and EBP and through a mentoring process will gain knowledge and experience about clinical research, specifically: research methods and design, ethics, the IRB process and dissemination.

Educational Opportunities

Research Primer Course

In collaboration with Stanford Health Care (SHC), this course offers the student basic principles and practices for conducting a research study. Topics include: appraising the literature; discovering resources available at the Lane Library; developing PICO questions; understanding research outcome measurement; reviewing IRB requirements; designing data management techniques and disseminating research results.

By the end of the course, the attendee will have learned how to begin the research process. The target audience for this course includes all levels of health care providers who want to learn more about completing a research study and the available resources. Offered twice a year: March and August.

Legacy Grant-Writing Webinar

This workshop will describe the essential requirements and steps to complete a Legacy Grant application for nurses at SCH or SHC. The workshop will begin with an overview of the Legacy Grant, what grant reviewers are looking for, and common mistakes to avoid. Topics include: identifying the purpose of a project, completing a literature review on the topic, developing methods for research, and creating a budget and timeline. The target audience for this workshop is all professionals with a nursing degree employed by SCH or SHC. The overall learning objective for this course is for participants to prepare a well-developed project and grant application to fund their research. This proposal must positively impact practice and/or patient care. Offered twice a year: April and September.

Evidence-Based Practice

Introduction to EBP Course

The Department offers a four-hour workshop focused on learning the fundamentals of evidence-based practice (EBP). Using the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health EBP Model, attendees will gain an overview of the EBP process and how to apply it to a clinical situation. Our instructors will provide the knowledge, tools, and skills needed to conduct an EBP project. The workshop involves both didactic and interactive sessions using an exemplar to guide the participant through the EBP process. This hands-on workshop is open to nurse residents, bedside nurses, clinical leaders, educators, and hospital champions who are charged with implementing EBP. The Introduction to EBP Course is recommended as an initial step to learn about EBP.

EBP Fellowship

The Department offers an Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Fellowship over a 12-month period for staff who have a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree. The fellowship provides approximately two hours a week of protected fellowship time, or a total of 80 hours. The goal of this program is to educate nurses at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health (SCH) about the principles of EBP in an effort to implement best practices. The goals of the fellowship are to integrate the EBP process with projects led by nurses and to be completed within a 12-month period. Implementing a small test of change grounded in research and developing a sustainability plan are other goals of the program. Offered once a year to SCH staff.

Funding

Stanford Nurse Alumnae Legacy Grant

The Stanford Nurse Alumnae Legacy Grants are intended to continue the Stanford University School of Nursing’s tradition of excellence in nursing practice, leadership, education, and research. The Stanford Nurse Alumnae Legacy Grant funds are a living expression of an enduring commitment to academic nursing practice at Stanford. The aims of the grant are to:

  1. Build on the foundation of academic nursing established by the Stanford University School of Nursing.
  2. Enhance nurses’ professional development through sponsoring research and practice improvement projects.
  3. Promote nursing’s active role and influence in improving health care delivery and advancing patient outcomes. Application deadlines: 31 and April each year. See the Office of Research Patient Care Services.

Sigma Awards

In 2020, nurse leaders at SCH and SHC established the Alpha Alpha Sigma Chapter as the first practice-only chapter. This new Sigma chapter creates opportunity for nursing scholarship and research, and offers awards for bachelor, masters and doctorally prepared nurses annually.

Contact

For questions about the Research or Evidence-Based Practice please contact the Department of Nursing Research and EBP at: departmentofnursingresearchandebp@stanfordchildrens.org