Gaining Deeper Insights: Empowering Nurses Through Validated Scientific Evidence and Knowledge Translation

Nurses provide essential expertise and compassionate care, playing a pivotal role in improving patient health and well-being and significantly contributing to healthcare systems. Through their dedication, nurses cultivate healthier communities that promote productivity and growth. Furthermore, these professional caregivers are essential to sustaining and accelerating progress toward universal health coverage. However, the nursing workforce encountered substantial challenges during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, leading to widespread shortages, increased burnout, mental health issues, unsafe working conditions, and a higher rate of departures from the profession. The global nurse shortage reached a staggering 7.7 million in 2022, with the pandemic amplifying the pressing demand for nurses around the world, prolonging the shortfall in this sector for years to come (Boniol et al., 2022). These shortages adversely affect patient care and increase the workload for the nurses who remain. Universal health coverage also faces the threat of a nurse shortage. A global shortfall of 4.5 million nurses is projected for 2030 under the assumption that 70% of new graduates will retain employment in the coming years; however, this estimate does not account for the impact of the pandemic (Boniol et al., 2022). In the post-pandemic era, retaining nurses is more crucial than ever, especially if the aforementioned issues remain unresolved and if experienced nurses leave the profession at a higher rate than new nurses enter. The World Health Organization (2022) advocates for investment in education, job creation, and leadership development within nursing. The International Council of Nurses (2022) concurrently calls for creating a ten-year plan to establish a sustainable global nursing workforce, emphasizing that effective nurse retention should be the foundation of a successful nursing workforce strategy. The American Academy of Nursing (2025) suggests a strategic plan for 2025-2028 that underscores equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, justice, and belonging as essential components for future success. Indeed, the transformative power of nurses can stem from knowledge, knowledge translation, and education. To address this, published articles help empower nurses. Academic journals provide a platform for scientists, clinicians, and researchers to share insights and discoveries in the healthcare field. These journals remain highly relevant in various contexts, support and promote evidence-based research, and illuminate innovative findings. This issue of the Journal of Nursing Research features studies applying diverse methodologies conducted in several countries. The included articles address different populations, including nurses, nursing students, patients, women, children, and others with various health conditions. Their diverse topics address a quick-return shift work schedule related to nurses’ personal and family lives, oncology nursing training with regard to the knowledge needs for fatigue care, the mediating role of sleep quality, post-natural-disaster care, and gender differences in screening for metabolic syndrome using machine learning models. In addition, the effects of interventions are validated, including an early-graded rehabilitation nursing model for postoperative care, cognitive behavioral therapy for reducing depression, online flipped-learning-model-based education for enhancing academic achievement and critical thinking disposition, and exercise strategies for managing obesity. The research study designs encompass systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, and cross-sectional studies. The articles in this issue are the fruit of state-of-the-art studies, providing valuable information and knowledge across various validated contexts. Knowledge translation is crucial as it conceptualizes the generation, synthesis, and application of research evidence and knowledge found in academic journals rather than allowing them to remain on shelves or in electronic databases. With authors working locally, readers are encouraged to think globally. All of these efforts enhance career achievements and promote the retention of nurses in the field. Furthermore, in evidence-based practice, nurse empowerment may be leveraged to improve individual health outcomes and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare services, ultimately benefiting the causes of universal health coverage and the community economy.