When school nurses embrace evidence-based practice (EBP), higher-quality care is provided to students, their families, and the larger community. Despite this, school nursing has been slow to embrace EBP. Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRNs), which capitalize on the combined strengths of clinicians and researchers to study clinical questions,…

More school nurses are engaging in the generation of research, and their studies increasingly are using qualitative methods to describe various areas of practice. This article provides an overview of 4 major qualitative methods: ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, and historical research. Examples of school nursing research studies that…

School nurses need to demonstrate that their practice is based on the best evidence available, which is usually data obtained from research. Evidence-based practice involves combining the best evidence available with nursing expertise and patient and family preferences to determine optimum care. Evidence-based practice guidelines are developed by…

Research is important to the image, visibility, and viability of school nursing. Each state school nursing association should evaluate member commitment to school nursing research based on their unique set of financial, educational, and organizational resources. A 3-round Delphi study was conducted in which Florida school nurses identified…

Focus group research is an effective way for school nurses to gain knowledge about a diverse range of issues that children in schools may face. It is a means to gather information about perceptions, feelings, points of view, and manners of thinking from a group of individuals about a specific topic. This article overviews focus groups as a…

Supports findings from a 1996 meeting of two school health organizations that there is a need for additional research on school nursing, reviewing existing research, describing the group process used to establish a research agenda on school nursing, presenting results of the process, and offering recommendations for the next steps to be taken by…

Professional practice is built on sound knowledge specific to each discipline. This knowledge is developed and validated through a process of scientific investigation or research. However, lack of knowledge about the research process acts as a barrier to applying evidence-based practice within the school setting. Understanding the components that…

Presents information from a 1996 meeting by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent and School Health and the American Nurses Association's National Center for School Health Nursing. Participants reviewed progress since 1994 on seven critical needs, updated priority actions, determined strategies for achieving…