“Armed with critical information based on their unique experience with patients, nurses are able to significantly influence the development of research-based strategies in the delivery of healthcare,” UP President Emerlinda R. Roman said during the opening ceremony of the First Asia Pacific Conference on Nursing Research on September 4 at the Manila Hotel.
Titled, “Moving Towards Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing,” the two-day conference was organized by the UP Manila (UPM) College of Nursing and the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UH-Manoa) School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene. The first of its kind in the region, the conference aimed to bring together nurses and health workers from Asia and the Pacific to develop and organize the research capability of nursing practice in the region.
Pres. Roman further stated that nurses have some of the best available evidence to help health authorities identify which clinical practices are risky or safe and effective. Because they provide not only medical assistance but also care and comfort to patients, nurses are in a position to observe and understand the suffering of patients in an intimate way. They have the ability to help patients communicate their needs to doctors.
The conference, Pres. Roman explained, will help universities improve nursing curricula and research programs. Moreover, she said that using evidence-based practice in nursing can help health institutions in creating standards for a healthcare system that “on the one hand, fits the unique qualities of nurses in different countries, and, on the other hand, addresses the specific needs of multi-cultural societies.
Some of the foreign nursing experts who attended the confab were Jean Yan (Chief Scientist Nursing and Midwifery, World Health Organization); Dr. Mary G. Boland, Dr. Debra Mark, Dr. Jillian Inouye, Dr. Kristine Qureshi (SNDH, UH-Manoa); Patricia Davidson from Curtin University of Technology (Sydney, Australia); Dr. Phoebe Williams of the School of Nursing, University of Kansas (USA); and, Dr. Geri Marullo, President and CEO of Consuelo Foundation, Hawaii.
Close to fifty abstracts from the US, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Pakistan, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines were presented through oral or poster presentations by their authors. Hundreds of nurses, health workers, nurse researchers, and members of the academe on health and nursing education from the Asia-Pacific region.
This activity is in line with the University of the Philippines Centennial Celebration and the 60th foundation year of the UP College of Nursing. (with report from Chat M. Jemena of UPM-IPPAO)
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