“The Great American Cookie Experiment: Engaging Staff Nurses in Research”
“Impact of Animal Assisted Therapy on Mobility, Satisfaction and
Pain Perception in Hospitalized Children Undergoing Pediatric Rehabilitation”
“Acute Care Pediatric Nurses’ Health Promotion Practices Related to
Healthy Lifestyle Education”
“Psychometric Evaluation of the Texas Children’s Hospital Fall Risk
Assessment Scale”
N E W K N O W L E D G E , I N N O V A T I O N & I M P R O V E M E N T S
Research and evidence-based practice
Texas Children’s is commited to evaluating nursing research. It has created the role of a
full-time nurse scientist, Marlene Walden, PhD, RN, and a full-time research statistician,
Joseph Hagan, PhD. Educational offerings include the 15-month Research Scholars
Program, the eight-week Evidence Based Scholars Program and quarterly lunch and
learn presentations. The organization’s nursing research programs also provide research
and statistical consultation services to nursing staff and advanced practice providers and
distribute a quarterly nursing research newsletter. The Nursing Research Council meets
monthly and is responsible for reviewing all research studies led by nurse researchers and
research proposals that involve the study of nursing. The goal of the nursing research
programs is to measure outcomes and test improvements impacting the pediatric and
obstetrical nursing practice.
The 2012-2013 Research Scholars conducted four research studies:
Marlene Walden, PhD, RN, came to the role of
nurse scientist after a long career as a neonatal
nurse practitioner and nurse educator. She joined
Texas Children’s in 1977 and spent three decades
furthering her education, conducting research and
working in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.
Walden is an expert researcher on neonatal pain
and authored the National Association of Neonatal
Nursing pain guidelines.
Today, Walden mentors research scholars, chairs the
hospital’s Research Council and consults with nurses
on individual research projects.
Texas Children’s appoints first full-time nurse scientist
