Creating Clinical Research Protocols in Advanced Practice: Part I, Identifying the Fit and the Aim

The term “advanced practice nurse” (APN) encompasses nurses with graduate level preparation typically focused on direct patient care, or oversight of direct patient care, in a clinical practice setting.¹  Examples include the certified nurse-midwife (CNM), certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), clinical nurse specialist (CNS), and most commonly, nurse practitioners (NPs). The versatility and independence represented by these very different practice arenas is one of the most valuable assets of advanced practice nursing. Yet, the same virtue can become a vice for APNs interested in research or clinical inquiry as an integral component of their everyday practice. Three common and often unanticipated challenges include (1) clinical practice isolation, (2) limited preparation for independent research or improvement science design, and (3) time constraints, either to pursue funding or to engage in unfunded clinical inquiry. As a result, nurses with the most experience and exposure to patients’ problems are often the least...