Discuss what you think research is and
             • The significance of research to the practice of graduate nurses and
             • The barriers/solutions to the use of research to inform nursing practice.
             Research is multileveled. In a health care setting, research is used for a variety of reasons and for a range of purposes. Whether it be a nurse undertaking a patient history to determine the level of care required or collecting and analysing data for a pharmaceutical study. Research is extremely important in developing a nurse's fundamental basis of knowledge to assist in future problem solving situations and to ensure sound judgements are made through their actions. Research, however, has barriers in nursing practice and this will be further explored in the essay accompanied by solutions.
             There are a number of different definitions of research that have arisen, with the common theme being knowledge as the outcome. Research can be explained as 'a rigorous process of systematic inquiry that seeks answers to questions about phenomena of concern to a profession or academic discipline' (Daly, Elliot and Chang 2000) or suggested by Sykes (1997 in Roberts and Taylor 1998, page 1) 'a careful search or enquiry, a course of critical investigations'. From these two definitions of research it can be seen that they are very broad and encompass a wide range of possibilities. In relation to health care, research can be seen as 'an investigation undertaken in a systematic manner, using thorough and rigorous methods to answer questions about aspects or things of concern to nursing and health care.'
             There are a variety of ways in which research can be conducted, with no one particular method that must be followed. However, cited by Whitworth (1994) all research requires clear thinking and creativity. In order to become a critical consumer of research and improve nursing practice one needs to be able to develo...