Importance of Research in Nursing Pakistan

Submitted By :Fariha Hameed

R.No:09
Semester 6th (3rd year)
Faculty :Madam Shehla Arshad
Date :4/17/17
 Importance of Research in Nursing Pakistan

In all parts of the world ,nursing has experienced a profound culture change over the
past few decades.Nursing are increasingly expected to understand and conduct
research,and to base their professional practice on emerging from research -that is,to
adopt an evidence -based practice(EBP).EBP is broadly defined as the use of the best
clinical evidence in making care decisions,and such evidence typically comes from
research conducted by nurses and other health professionals.
Research is systematic inquiry that uses disciplined methods to answer questions or
solve problems.The ultimate goal of research is to develop,refine,and expand a body
of knowledge.
Nurses are increasingly engaged in disciplined studies that benefit the profession and
its clients,and that contributed to improvements in the entire health care
system.Nursing research is systematic inquiry designed to develop trustworthy
evidence about issues of importance to the nursing profession,including nursing
practice,education,administration,and informatic.
Nursing research has experienced remarkable growth in the past three
decades,providing nurses with an increasingly sound evidence base from which to
practice.
Because of broad support for evidence-based nursing practice,research has assumed
heightened importance for nurses.Although there is not a consensus about what type
of ‘evidence’ are appropriate for EBP(Goode,2000),there is general agreement that
research findings from rigorous studies provide especially strong evidence for
informing nurses decision and actions.Nurses are accepting the need to base specific
nursing actions and decisions on evidence indicating that the actions are clinically
appropriate,cost -effective and result in positive outcomes for clients.They are also
reinforcing the identity of nursing as a profession.
Another reason for nurses to engage in and use research involves the spiraling costs of
health care and the cost-containment practice being instituted in health care
facilities.Now,more than ever,nurses need to document the social relevance and
effectiveness of their practice,not only to the profession but to nursing care
consumers,health care administrators,third party payers(e.g.,insurance companies),and
government agencies.Some research findings will help eliminate nursing actions that
do not achieve desired outcomes.Other findings will help nurses identity practices that
improve health care outcomes and contain costs as well.
Nursing research is essential if nurses are to understand the varied dimensions of their
profession.Research enables to describe the characteristics of a particular nursing
situation about which little is known;to explain phenomena that must be considered in
planning nursing care:to predict the probable outcomes of certain nursing decisions:to
control the occurrence of undesired outcomes:and to initiate activities to promote
desired client behavior.
Changes to nursing practice are occurring regularly because of EBP efforts.Often
these practice changes are local initiatives ,many of which are not publicized,but
broader clinical changes are also occurring based on accumulating research evidence
about beneficial practice innovation.
Pakistan now has nurses with the advanced research and clinical skills needed to solve
the root causes of poor health,gender inequality and under-development in
society.Transforming health care systems from Local to Global noted that today’s
nurses hold management position in hospital,lead research in community health
initiatives across the country,advise on national and regional guidelines that shape
curriculum s,and conduct educational program mes that develop the next generation
of nursing leaders.
Pakistan where health care is not accessible and affordable for every
individual,maternal and child mortality rates are high,social issues like early
marriages and domestic violence is prevalent,and humanitarian emergencies related
displacements are common,a nurse as a researcher can play important roles in
multiple ways at hospital and community setups like urban slums,disaster relief
camps, school and workplace settings etc.to bring positive change in population’s
health..
The shortage of nurses has been a continuous challenge for the nursing profession in many
countries, including Pakistan. This shortage is associated with multiple factors that include the
low status and image of the profession. This study was conducted to explore the image of
nursing in Pakistani society from nurses’ and non-nurses’ perspectives and to identify factors
that impact on the desirability of entering into the nursing profession.
According to Hirani .S (2004-05),They also investigate one of the social issue which leaded
toward many issues In the target community, poverty, female illiteracy and lack of
empowerment was identified as leading cause of domestic violence and resultant depression and
behavioral issues among their children, therefore, as a part of intervention,Adult Literacy Centers
(ALC) were initiated at the community and for its execution local teachers were hired to teach
women. Three groups of women were randomized into three arms i.e. one group with only ALC
training, second group with ALC and psychological counseling sessions, and third group with ALC
and Self-efficacy training (it included sessions on time management, personal grooming, dealing
with conflicts, effective parenting and nutrition). The community volunteers were trained to
undertake these interventions. The biggest challenge in the conduct of research was political
issues at the site and migrations. Few other challenges included lack of mothers- in-law and
husbands’ receptiveness and permission for women to join ALC and attend classes; however,
community mobilizers and community based volunteers played a vital role. Despite of these
hurdles, overall this project enhanced women empowerment and to some extent reduced
domestic violence and depression among women. Overall this project enabled many women in
that community to develop basic reading and writing skills which empowered them to help their
spouses in calculations and children in their school based home assignments. Also, the
introduced interventions enabled many women to effectively deal with marital conflicts,
parenting concerns and budgetary issues at home. Moreover, the targeted interventions in this
study enabled vulnerable women in a particular group to form support groups to reduce their
stresses through ventilation of feelings and many women started to serve as one of the earning
members of the family by initiating home based work. This research project is an example that
how a nurse researcher along with the multidisciplinary team of health professionals can work
with the community and empower them by proposing innovative solutions.
According to one of scholar(2012)’they investigate the importance of nursing in Pakistan at
financial level they said that their is no importance of that profession so how we get a best
researcher in that profession because it need good economical status without this you can not
do any thing in research .The monthly salary of nurse in compares ion of other professional
health care giver is very low which is very bad for nursing advancement and its
development.Their is only one university (AKU) which is working on nursing research but its to
much expensive so everyone can not achieved it level and do research with them and that is not
enough for that broad profession and whole country can not get good researcher in nursing on
behalf of that one university.Their will need to improve their nursing financial problems and Govt
should support in their new development like research etc.
Different ethical issues encountered in daily nursing draw little consideration but can produce a
stressful working environment for the nurses.
According to Hirani .S (2004-05),they investigate malnutrition among children and women in the
community was very prevalent because of unsafe birthing practices by untrained birth
attendants (mothers/mothers-in-law), myths and misconceptions associated with iron-rich foods,
unhygienic practices, worm infestation, child neglect, and poor health seeking behavior of the
community. In that locality, male-dominance was prominent to an extent that women were not
allowed to go outside their houses, and even childbirth was handled at home by the untrained
mother-in-laws. Consequently, anemia and malnutrition related morbidity and mortality was
high among women and young children. Considering the identified problem, a training program
me was designed for the targeted locality with the aim to empower them and tackle the issue of
rising mortality and 3 morbidity among young children and women. In this regard, community
mobilizers, community women (mothers-in-law), vaccinators, head of the family from each
household, community doctors, teachers and religious leaders (priests) were involved as key
implementer s. As a first step, community mobilizer (a respected person of that community) was
identified. Then religious leader, teachers and community heads were approached to explain
them about the importance of project. Upon convincing them, joint meetings were arranged
between community leaders, school teachers, mobilizers, and community males to extend their
support during this project. Finally, with the permission of the key people and head of the
families, mother-in-laws and sisters-in-law were trained about the safe birthing practices and
certified as lady health workers. No doubt, the entire process required lots of efforts (lobbying,
time, and efforts to convince male members of the community); the positive outcomes were
community’s receptiveness towards health care interventions, as well as identification and
control of the key risk factors contributing malnutrition among vulnerable women and children.
In this project she as a research nurse got an opportunity to serve as change agent and utilize the
skills of problem solving, decision making, advocacy and counseling to save lives of the
vulnerable population who do not have health care access. Effective communication was the key
skill that facilitated in building rapport and taking informed consent from the target
community.According to Hirani.S.(2004-05), research in nursing profession can plays very
important role in identification of the encountered health issue, work for health promotion and
disease prevention at multiple care settings, and bring positive change in the global health
through advocacy, problem solving, counseling, and collaborative approach.Her different
researches different health issue proved that research in nursing Pakistan is needing more
improvement and it is very important because their is many health issues which need to solve in
community.

To conclude , research in nursing can offers real benefits to patient,public,health provider and
employers,Pakistani Govt,nursing as a profession and individual practitioners.The measure set
out above will enable Pakistan to continue to benefit from continuously improving,high quality
,safe and effective health and social care. Nurses researcher can advocate for the rights of
population of interest and voice out for the needed amendments in the national policies through
research dissemination and publications.

References

Denise F.Polit,Cheryl T.B(Ed).(2008),Nursing Research:Generating and Assessing Evidence for

Nursing Practice.Gold Coast ,Australia. Storrs,Connecticut:Wolters Kluwer.

Hirani.S.(2004-05) ,The Role of the Research Nurses .Aga Khan University School of Nursing and
Midwifery, Stadium Road,Karachi, Pakistan.