Fostering a Spirit of Inquiry: Inspiring Nurses to Advance Practice Based on Best Evidence

Early in my career as a critical care nurse, I noticed discrepancies between arterial blood gas values and noninvasive readings. My unit's clinical nurse specialist encouraged me to conduct a research study; the findings from that study drove a practice change for the unit, and I presented the results at a national conference. This experience inspired a spirit of inquiry and launched my career focused on research and adoption of best evidence to advance nursing practice affecting the patients we serve. Clinical inquiry, both on my part and on the part of the nurses I worked alongside, led me to critically examine evidence to either implement a body of science in practice or generate knowledge to improve practice, health care systems, and patient outcomes. My program of scholarship has focused on understanding ways in which nurses independently influence patient care. As a hospital-based research nurse scientist, I had the opportunity to explore nursing practice by asking questions and seeking answers associated with the impact of technology on practice, hospital-acquired conditions, and evidence translation. Nursing practice questions fostered robust explorations on a wide range of topics from exploring use of technology to inform interventions to understanding new graduate nurses' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. As I was recognized as an evidence-based practice expert, my spirit of inquiry led me to promote evidence-based practice as a foundational principle to reduce patient harm and advance nursing practice. Fostering a spirit of inquiry supports the generation of nursing science and translation of best evidence to inform our daily practice.