Saint Luke’s Nursing Research Clinical Scholar program launches

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Jan. 14, 2012) — A new program at Saint Luke’s will help promote quality of care by providing nurses support to conduct research. The Nursing Research Clinical Scholar program at Saint Luke’s launched this month and is designed to provide resources and financial support to a select group of nurses to attend monthly research-related seminars, develop a research project and submit it for funding, and ultimately conduct the study.

Nurses selected for the nursing research clinical scholar program include Anne Brown-Pollard, Katie Jaschke, Jill King, Yinghong Moore, Anne Naulty, and Tony Nunn.

Clinical nursing research supports and promotes the highest standards of patient care. The active research program at Saint Luke’s Hospital is one of a select few where bedside nurses actually perform research which in turn contributes to improvements in health services and patient outcomes. The program is a key factor in Saint Luke’s ability to provide professional growth opportunities for talented nurses.

As a Magnet hospital, Saint Luke’s emphasizes nursing research and evidence-based practice. The Magnet Recognition Program was developed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center to recognize health care organizations that provide nursing excellence and has been awarded to less than 10 percent of all U.S. hospitals. Saint Luke’s Hospital, which achieved Magnet designation for a second time in 2009, is committed to enhancing nursing practice and improving patient care.

More than 50 nurses participate in some aspect of clinical research at Saint Luke’s. Many are members of the hospital’s Nursing Research Council, which oversees and facilitates nursing research projects. The council works closely with Jacque Carpenter, R.N., M.S., Ph.D., nursing research program director, to provide a comprehensive program that impacts clinical, educational, and administrative nursing practice at Saint Luke’s Hospital.

The nursing research clinical scholar program is funded in part through a grant from the Victor E. Speas Foundation, Bank of America Trustee.