Nurses from across eastern North Carolina came together on March 13 for an opportunity to review important research and take in presentations during Collaborative Nurse Research Day.
ECU Health, East Carolina University College of Nursing, Eastern Area Health Education Center (Eastern AHEC) and Sigma Theta Tau, Beta Nu Chapter came together to co-sponsor the event and promote the research of local nurses working to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina.
Dr. Trish Baise, chief nursing executive at ECU Health, said these events and opportunities to show the research that nurses do is crucial to influencing innovation and positive change in medicine.
“What warms my heart is seeing the engagement in our professional practice,” Dr. Baise said. “Research is often that extra work that some nurses might find intimidating or challenging but it’s so important to continue to drive the profession forward. So I want to say thank you for leaning into this space that’s such an important part of our profession. It’s my sincere hope that this will continue to grow.”
In rural areas, which see so many unique challenges from patient populations who are sicker than most to staffing shortages, research that helps improve care and bring about better patient outcomes in efficient ways can make all the difference.
Dr. Baise said as a health system with access to great resources in the area, being a leader in the research space is important to her vision for the health system and the future health of the region.
“From a rural health care perspective, no one is better poised to be able to determine how we drive health forward in a rural environment than eastern North Carolina,” Dr. Baise said. “We have all of the challenges but we also have amazing, brilliant, skilled clinicians, phenomenal nurses, wonderful academic partnerships and I feel fully confident this partnership can be the national model for rural health. If we can do it here, then it’s replicable in other rural areas and in the environments that are not experiencing the same challenges as harshly as we are here.”
Dr. Bimbola Akintade, dean and professor at ECU’s College of Nursing, also spoke during the event. He said the partnership between ECU and ECU Health makes for an exciting time in eastern North Carolina.
While the organizations work together to train the next generation of nurses, the partnership also allows for innovation at the bedside and in how those nurses are recruited to continue their careers here in the East.
“At the College of Nursing, our mission is to become a transformative model in research practice, innovation and leadership. The mission for ECU Health, it’s to improve the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina,” Dr. Akintade said. “I believe both organizations have done an amazing job in both of these spaces individually and we’re excited to grow together as we move forward. Whenever we think about nursing, we think about is care at the bedside. This event provides us a great opportunity for our students to work with our clinical partners at ECU Health to re-envision care and health care access for rural regions.”
The event featured speakers on rural health framework and a session for attendees to review posters displaying the research of nursing students and nurses working in the field.