By James X. Stobinski, Ph.D., RN, CNOR, CNAMB, CSSM(E)
Nursing faces a significant challenge in the dissemination of new nursing knowledge. We have record numbers of nurses engaged in doctoral studies, but the vital findings from this research – essential new knowledge – does not consistently make its way to the point of care. Life events do happen and many dissertations are never widely disseminated. In 2012, I completed the required forms, paid my fees and placed my dissertation in the ProQuest database. With some work you can find my dissertation. Some researchers have figured this out as my work has been cited in seven other papers. I would venture that few perioperative nurses routinely search databases for new evidence.
As much pride as we take in the accomplishment of our doctoral work, I must admit that I did not publish my work in a peer-reviewed journal. Without databases such as ProQuest these findings are not widely known or used in perioperative nursing. There has been an exciting development on this front. In late April, I received a notification from Sigma Theta Tau International (the honor society of nursing), offering to place my dissertation in the Sigma Repository’s Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) collection. They describe their repository as an active, dynamic dissemination mechanism with a robust search capacity. No subscription is required to use the repository.
The usability and accessibility of the Sigma ETD collection gives us another route for dissemination. It took just a few minutes to complete an online form and in a few days I was sent a link to my dissertation. This link at http://hdl.handle.net/10755/22616 is a permanent identifier which can be shared. This is some great work by Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) and provides a valuable resource to many stakeholders. The utility of this repository to researchers is clear. However, in the case of my work, anyone with an interest in the assessment of perioperative nursing competency could access my study within minutes.
Another useful feature in the repository are links/suggestions to related research. In example, while checking the link to my study I noted a link to a study completed in 2013 by Randolph William Schild at Capella University. This qualitative study, “Transformational Learning Experiences of Perioperative Registered Nurses Who Have Completed a Perioperative Training Program”, has some connection to my quantitative study completed in 2011. I read Schild’s work with interest, and I will contact him for a follow-up conversation. Prior to this work by STTI, I could not have easily found this excellent resource.
I see the Sigma repository as having great potential to fill the dissemination gap and facilitate the transfer of knowledge to the point of care in perioperative nursing. The Competency and Credentialing Institute (CCI) and the CCI Research Foundation (CCIRF) wish to publicize the excellent work done by STTI. We have a simple ask in this regard. We would like to make original perioperative-related research available on the CCIRF website. If you have contributed your work to this repository please contact me and we can place a link to your contribution on the CCIRF website.
If you have not yet placed your research findings in the STTI repository, please consider this opportunity. As we aggregate additional studies we hope to keep adding to this resource. Our collective nursing knowledge gains exponentially in value when shared and utilized. The STTI ETD collection is a tremendous opportunity in this respect. Kudos to STTI for this great work.
– James X. Stobinski, Ph.D., RN, CNOR CNAMB, CSSM(E), is CEO of the Competency and Credentialing Institute.
References
ProQuest (2022). Accessed May 18th, 2022 at: https://www.proquest.com/advanced
Schild, W. (2013). Transformational Learning Experiences of Perioperative Registered Nurses Who Have Completed a Perioperative Training Program. [Doctoral dissertation]. Accessed May 18th, 2022 at: https://sigma.nursingrepository.org/bitstream/handle/10755/622548/Dissertation.pdf
Sigma Theta Tau International. (2020). Sigma Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) Project. Accessed May 18th, 2022 at: https://www.sigmarepository.org/etd_information/
Stobinski, J. X. (2012). Competency and work environments among military and civilian perioperative registered nurses: A predictive model. [Doctoral dissertation]. ProQuest/UMI.
