Nursing Science
“At Stony Brook Medicine, nurses at all levels are empowered to form meaningful clinical questions which might lead to new discoveries or improvements in practice. Whether our nurses are experienced or completely new to research and evidence-based practice (EBP), we have the resources to support nurses in the development of their skills. EBP and nursing research are very much engrained in our culture, and this ensures that our patients receive the best possible care.”
Meghan Doelger, DNP, RN, CCRN, Nurse Scientist, Stony Brook Medicine.
Key Nursing Research/Evidence-Based Practice Resources
Partnerships
- Stony Brook School of Nursing (SON) faculty: Collaborate to perform nursing research and deliver EBP/research education to our nursing staff
- Interprofessional colleagues: We work with physicians, nurse practitioners, and other interprofessional team members to perform research and ensure that evidence-based practice changes are implemented successfully
Education
- Nurse Residents receive ongoing evidence-based practice education and develop EBP project proposals under the direction of unit facilitators, SON faculty and the Nurse Scientist
- Regular educational webinars cover topics on all parts of the EBP/research process, from completing an Institutional Review Board application to writing an abstract to disseminate a project
Mentorship
- Nursing Science Council: These nursing research/EBP experts provide mentorship to nurses with a project idea. Mentors meet regularly with project groups and help facilitate implementation of EBP
- Nurse Scientist: One-on-one mentorship is available for all parts of the research/EBP processes for any nurse
Lung Cancer Nursing Research Study
Denise Albano, DNP, ANPc, Associate Director of the Stony Brook University Chest Clinic and the Director of the Lung Nodule Clinic
Dr. Denise Albano was noticing a concerning trend in her practice. “We started to notice that more and more of our lung cancer patients had never smoked.” According to the Lung Cancer Research Foundation, 20% of newly diagnosed cases in 2022 were nonsmokers1. However, current screening practices did not include nonsmokers2. Dr. Albano recognized that there was a need for research into factors that are associated with higher risk of lung cancer in nonsmoker patients. She completed a retrospective study that analyzed data from 16,056 nonsmoker patients diagnosed with lung nodules and lung cancer between 2016 and 2022.
Results revealed that patients with COPD, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes were found to have a higher risk of developing lung cancer. Nonsmoking women, older adults, and those with a family history of lung cancer were also at greater risk of developing lung cancer. The study suggests that considering age, family history, and specific comorbidities in lung cancer screening criteria for nonsmokers could enhance early detection and improve patient outcomes3. Dr. Albano’s research has contributed to the body of knowledge surrounding nonsmokers’ risk of lung cancer, which will hopefully help to one day lead to the implementation of a screening tool for lung cancer in nonsmokers.
Read more about Dr Albano's research
- Lung Cancer Facts - Lung Cancer Research Foundation. 2022 [cited 2022 10/26/2022]; Available here
- Force, U.P.S.T., Screening for lung cancer: US preventive services task force recommendation statement, JAMA 325 (10) (2021) 962–970.
- Albano, D., Dhamija, A., Liao, Y., McLarty, A., Talavera, H., Kim, E.K., and Ashamalla, M. (2023). Lung cancer in nonsmokers- A risk factor analysis. Cancer Epidemiology 86(2023) 102439. Retrieved from