Research utilization in maternal-child nursing: application of the CURN model

Nursing administrators, educators and clinicians are continually striving to incorporate research into practice. A number of research utilization models have been developed to help meet this challenge. This article describes how the Conduct and Utilization of Research in Nursing (CURN) approach was used in a maternal-child area of a Canadian tertiary care hospital. One patient care problem was identified by practising nurses that required acquisition and application of recent research findings. A thorough literature search and critique was conducted based on this patient care problem and research results were used to develop nursing care guidelines for this priority concern.