Stimulating Student Interest in Nursing Research: A Program Pairing Students with Practicing Clinician Researchers

Abstract

Teaching nursing research to baccalaureate nursing (BSN) students can be challenging for nurse educators. The content of research courses often is dry and seemingly irrelevant to BSN students who are focused on more concrete tasks, such as passing clinical and academic courses. Through our search for creative ways to bring energy, excitement, passion, purpose, and reality to students' views of nursing research, we designed a program in which hospital nurses involved in clinical research projects mentored students in the clinical environment. Students were asked to perform literature reviews, collect and analyze data, and help with poster presentations. Student evaluations at the end of the program were positive, and analysis of pretest and posttest scores indicated student interest in nursing research increased significantly ( p = 0.00).