[Use of research in clinical practice: support program for cardiac patients]

The research aims at the acquisition of knowledge and its application in the practice. The knowledge which most interests the nurses is the one pertaining to the improvement of nursing practice. Before initiating a change in the clinical practice on the basis of the research results, it is important to consider some rigorous criteria which will provide guidance to an enlightened decision as to whether such results should be adopted or not. With the help of an example of nursing care concerning a support programme for the benefit of heart patients, this article presents the application of a model of use of research results. The model consists of six phases in support of a critical judgement on the value of a scientific work: preparation, validation, comparative evaluation, decision making, adoption/application and evaluation. Each of these phases states the application of the model criteria, not only to the results, but to the whole research processes followed by the author. This model of research use can provide the nurse with means of proposing changes in the practice, based on the knowledge issuing from research.