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Weekly Q&A: Nursing research

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, November 22, 2005

This week, a reader asks about submitting nursing research to the institutional review board (IRB). Read the response below from our advisor, Suzanne C. Beyea, RN, PhD, FAAN, director of nursing research, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), Lebanon, NH.

Q: We are beginning to establish our nursing research and evidence-based practice council. Can you recommend any resources or examples to streamline the institutional review board (IRB) process? Our institution has a well-established IRB that is comfortable with randomized clinical trials, etc. However, we are looking for forms or criteria to provide information to the IRB about nursing-specific research.

A: At Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), an expert nursing panel reviews nursing research proposals prior to submission to the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS) (our IRB). Nurses who submit research use the same forms as all other clinicians when submitting research. It is true that nurses may have to educate members of the IRB about nursing questions and methods, but it is very important for nurses to meet the same standards as other researchers within your organization.

Click here to visit Dartmouth College's CPHS page. This link includes information about our process as well as a policy related to the nursing process at Dartmouth. I recommend that one or more nurses serve as members of your IRB, as this is very helpful and an important first step. At DHMC, a nurse serves as a regular member on all of our IRB panels. To receive the credibility it deserves, nursing research needs to be as substantive as other fields and be presented in the same manner as other disciplines.

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