The nurse’s role in evidence implementation and evidence generation is an important one. As nurses have such a critical and close relationship with their patients, they are the ones that monitor outcomes vigilantly. Therefore, they ensure that research is well-constructed, significant, and valuable. Additionally, since nurses maintain such an intimate relationship with their clients, they can use their experiences to guide clinical research, in order to improve patient outcomes, or evaluate current interventions. That includes identifying which of their patients may benefit from inclusion in a research study. Nurses also make sure that the actions of medical professionals are in conformity with the ethical standards of their practice.
Nurses are also typically the ones to get their patients’ informed consent about clinical research. That means that they are the ones to explain the implications of the study to the patient and their loved ones, meaning that they are responsible for being well-informed about the purpose and details of the research being conducted.
