CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Currently, a 10- to 15-year gap exists between discovery of potential innovations and implementation of these innovations into nursing practice. The Retrieval and Application of Research in Nursing (RARIN) project is helping to reduce this gap in one western hospital. The goal of RARIN is to improve the quality of nursing care by facilitating the transfer of new and clinically relevant nursing information to current practice. This is accomplished by providing nurses with both the tools and training for rapid retrieval of scientific information. Their work areas have been electronically linked with local, national, and international scientific information systems.