THERE IS LITTLE DISAGREEMENT AMONG NURSES concerning the need for clinical research to clarify and expand the profession’s knowledge base. Yet if we stop for a moment and reflect on why we perform certain activities in the course of our daily practice, seldom is the reason grounded in research. Our rationales are more likely to be an outcome of our apprentice-style education; we do what we do in the way we do it because a nursing colleague, instructor, or a member of a related health care profession once told us this is the correct way. Although these patterns are difficult to change, we, as nurses, accepted the responsibility for research when we began to refer to ourselves as “professionals.” Members of a profession constantly use research findings to modify their knowledge base; and as a consequence, clients of that profession’s service expect to benefit from the application of new research knowledge to practice.