Knowledge translation and advances in health and nursing practices

In clinical practice settings, nurses are required to make efficient, safe, and up-to-date decisions on a daily basis. Evidence-based science is a core element in this dynamic and challenging context in which research evidence is increasingly needed to question, support, and modify our way of teaching, assisting, and managing processes.

From this perspective, we highlight knowledge translation, a term that represents the process by which evidence produced scientifically through research is disseminated and adopted in health-care practice with the purpose of improving the clinical outcomes of patients and the community, teams’ work processes, and the much-needed indicators that guide the way we deliver care1.

Dissemination is a “key element” for knowledge translation, as a study is not considered complete until its findings have been widely disseminated, presented, and particularly published in a peer-reviewed journal. Currently, journals even ask authors to describe how the research findings could be translated into clinical practice1. These requirements contribute to the validity of evidence that can be applied to other populations and settings.

The relevance of knowledge translation has been gradually increasing given the growing need to ensure that research evidence is applied in our daily lives. If we consider specifically the studies conducted in the real world of clinical practice, we will be able to more clearly see their potential to bring major advances to health care, especially in the field of nursing.

To more efficiently translate knowledge derived from research into practice, it is very important that researchers experience clinical research settings. When the research is conducted in a clinical setting, the study findings are expected to indicate potential changes to improve some point that has prompted the research hypothesis. By answering certain research questions, new hypotheses will be formulated and the process of translating knowledge to action will occur in a dynamic, progressive, and necessary way for the teams involved.

Over the years, nurses have assumed prominent positions in the development of research; however, there are still gaps in translating research knowledge into clinical practice2. Therefore, we need to think about innovative actions. One strategy to leverage advances in the use of research evidence is Integrated Knowledge Translation. This type of approach reinforces the importance of partnerships and collaboration between nurses, patients, managers, politicians, and other health professionals in the search for significant contributions to respond to real-world needs2.

Another important advance in translating research knowledge into nursing practice is the conduct of studies on standardized language systems. There is growing concern that research should be conducted in real-world patients and settings to increase the level of evidence of terminologies and the translation of evidence into practice3. It is also important to note that standardized language systems describe the knowledge base and topics for which nurses are responsible3, which underscores the need to assume a process that already belongs to us and seek ways to favor its use and implementation in health-care institutions.

We also believe in the responsibility that nurses have to increasingly enter postgraduate programs, invest in professional training, and seek to establish national and international partnerships to improve their skills and competencies. Therefore, nurse-led research will be able to provide translational evidence by including in the process of knowledge creation both research nurses, as knowledge producers, and knowledge users, represented by nurses involved in the direct delivery of care and their patients, promoting safe evidence-based health-care practices4.

Along the same lines, another important advance that has contributed significantly to knowledge translation is the creation of professional master’s and doctoral programs. These programs are focused on professional training and qualification, and students should deliver a “real product” at the end of the program, providing the health-care system with an innovation that can be used in health-care institutions. Examples include validated assessment tools and protocols, process systematization, and development of technologies to support daily care, such as the use of applications (‘apps’), among others5. This in itself provides a form of knowledge translation and represents an interesting field for those willing to improve their professional training but who are not inclined toward academic research.

In view of the foregoing, we can observe that knowledge translation has been breaking paradigms over the years, adding value to our profession and to society, which can rely on increasingly engaged nurses in constant search for knowledge. It is also our mission to implement and automate research translation into direct care delivery, integrating our practices with other fields, including health managers, frontline staff, educators, and patients.

References

• 1. Curtis K, Fry M, Shaban RZ, Considine J. Translating research findings to clinical nursing practice. J Clin Nurs. 2017;26(5-6):862-72. doi: http://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13586
  » http://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.13586
• 2. Lorenzini E, Banner D, Plamondon K, Oelke N. A call for knowledge translation in nursing research [editorial]. Texto Contexto Enferm. 2019;28:e20190104. doi: http://doi.org/10.1590/1980-265X-TCE-2019-0001-0004
  » http://doi.org/10.1590/1980-265X-TCE-2019-0001-0004
• 3. Rabelo-Silva ER, Mantovani VM, Pedraza LL, Cardoso PC, Lopes CT, Herdman TH. International collaboration and new research evidence on Nanda international terminology. Int J Nurs Knowl. 2021;32(2):103-7. doi: http://doi.org/10.1111/2047-3095.12300
  » http://doi.org/10.1111/2047-3095.12300
• 4. Crossetti MGO, Góes MGO. Knowledge translation: a challenge in providing nursing care [editorial]. Rev Gaúcha Enferm. 2017;38(2):e74266. doi: http://doi. org/10.1590/1983-1447.2017.02.74266
  » http://doi. org/10.1590/1983-1447.2017.02.74266
• 5. Reichembach MT, Pontes L. Innovative research in nursing: a necessary change. Rev Bras Enferm. 2020;73(4):e2020n4. doi: http://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2020730401
  » http://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2020730401

Edited by

Editor-in-chief:

Maria da Graça Oliveira Crossetti

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  26 Sept 2022
• Date of issue
  2022