A nursing college and its clinical partners created the Nursing Collaboratory to generate, disseminate, and apply knowledge to practice through four domains: education, research, practice, and informatics. It serves as an incubator for innovative products and services that enhance nursing education and practice. (SK)

Baccalaureate-prepared registered nurses (RNs) in hospitals appear to have more differentiated roles than nurses in nursing homes or ambulatory care. If employers believe that it is more cost-effective to shift responsibilities from physicians to RNs, demand for nurses with bachelor's degrees will increase. (SK)

Examines the religious sources of ideas about therapeutic touch. Argues that it should be treated as a religious practice in nursing, requiring changes in teaching. (SK)

Presents a framework for multisite clinical studies based on research in 17 hospitals. Five areas of key research tasks are addressed: general systems design, public relations, human resource issues, data quality, and data management. (SK)

Discusses ways in which practice-based research differs from traditional in terms of research questions, context, methods, dissemination, and assessment of merit. Suggests that a scholarship of practice requires a different lens, is consistent with a constructivist approach, and is immediately useful to practitioners. (Contains 32 references.) (SK)

The historical development of clinical scholarship over the span of a century of nursing is traced. Clinical scholarship is defined as knowledge and learning derived from analytic observations of clients and patients. The development of nursing care concept is discussed. (Author/MLW)

Discusses the development of the roles of nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist and evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of each role in current practice and education. Concludes that inadequate justification exists for continuing both roles. (Author/JOW)

The personal and environmental factors related to undergraduate and post-RN nursing students' attitudes toward theory-based nursing from Kolb's experiential learning theory perspective were investigated. Learning style and environmental press perceptions were found to be related to attitudes toward theory-based nursing. (Author/MLW)

Most nursing research is based on empiricism or logical positivism; the social behaviorist approach of the Health Belief Model does little to promote awareness or examine power issues. A critical feminist perspective aids understanding of health practices based on contextual knowledge and a holistic approach. (JOW)

Clinical scholarship begins with reflective observation of patients but differs from clinical research. It results in knowing based on informed, intelligent, and clinically grounded analysis. It is a more appropriate approach for some kinds of problems. (SK)

The humanities broaden nurses' awareness of human experience, helping them respond to the patient as a person while using scientific knowledge and technical skills. They help nursing students integrate empirical knowledge with experiential and aesthetic learning. (SK)

Responsible nursing practice cannot be realized under multicultural, relativist ethics. An alternate ethical basis for practice that is grounded in moderate realism is transcultural ethics, which argues that natural human needs, inherent in common human nature, can be determined empirically and what constitutes a good can be derived therefrom.…

Nursing students asked 831 college students, professionals, and others who were not nurses their opinions about nursing. The majority associated it with caring, but the meaning and practice of nurse caring were not well understood. The public was not well aware of the educational preparation required of nurses. (SK)

Deans and directors of nursing programs (356 of 462 surveyed) reported that 63 percent had practicing faculty, although only 88 percent required practice; practice was required for promotion/tenure by 15 percent; and organizational factors related to practicing faculty included written practice plans, generating revenue, and existence of master's…

Compared to 2 earlier studies in which fewer than 5% of subjects had nursing master's degrees, a study in which 49% of 157 were master's-prepared nurses found the overall extent of dissemination and use of research findings was similar. However, master's-prepared nurses made more use of research findings than bachelor's-degree nurses. (SK)