Theta Epsilon awarded chapter member Annette Bourgault PhD, RN, CNL, FAAN with a research grant in 2019. Bourgault is an assistant professor at UCF’s College of Nursing, a nurse scientist at Orlando Health, and serves as editor of the journal Critical Care Nurse. She has earned her PhD, MScN, and BScN and specializes in adult critical care. Bourgault answered some questions to provide our members with more information about her research and how the grant money will help her to accomplish her research goals.
What has been the inspiration for your research?
I’ve always been interested in performing nursing skills safely and helping nurses to have the proper tools to do their job. I’m very inquisitive and I want to know why we are doing things a certain way and whether what we do is based on evidence.
What is something you would like Theta Epsilon members to know about your research topic?
The study that is currently funded by Theta Epsilon is phase two of a national survey of critical care nurses on feeding tube verification in adult patients. The manuscript from phase one has been submitted for consideration of publication. We were surprised that more than two thirds of nurses continue to use the auscultation method when the research shows that it is not accurate. Phase two involved personal interviews of critical care nurses to explore facilitators and barriers to de-implementing (stopping) the auscultation method.
How will the grant money from Theta Epsilon help you with your research?
We used the funding to pay for participant incentives, transcription of audio interviews, and to hire a research assistant, who is a UCF BSN student. This study was a great opportunity for the student to learn more about the research process.
Have you conducted research before?
Yes, I have completed a number of studies. Many of my studies have taken place in the clinical setting with acute and critically ill adult patients. My first research study was completed in 2000 from an idea that I had as a staff nurse in the ICU. Our patients seemed to have frequent feeding tube occlusions and I was interested in learning more about how to prevent or fix this problem. I have been doing feeding tube research since that time.
How long have you been a member of Sigma’s Theta Epsilon chapter?
For 5 years. I joined after I moved to Orlando in 2015 to join the University of Central Florida as a faculty in the College of Nursing.