The purpose of practice development (PD) is the development of nurses and nursing to ensure both the quality of patient services and the nurturing of innovation in practice (Manley, 1997). The practice setting of the work described here is a thirteen-bedroom mixed acute surgical ward in a large London teaching hospital, where I am ward sister. In this report I describe the use of an action research strategy (which, I feel, has many parallels with the aims behind PD) to investigate whether or not patients should wear knee-length anti-embolic stocking as part of the preventive measures taken to reduce the incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in surgical patients within our ward. Within nursing, action research has often been seen as an appropriate way to try to bring about changes in clinical practice. Towell and Harries (1979) suggest that action research builds on people’s own motivations to change, gives authority to a programme of change, and offers support and resources to those trying to develop new ways of working. Canavan (1996: 9) argues that there is a great need for nurses capable of managing change. Liddy (1996: 3) and Rispel (1995) argue that nurses must sit at the table where policy is made. In my current position, as ward sister, I find that management do involve key leaders when making changes and developing policies, and that I am in a key position to motivate my nursing team, to identify areas of practice and care that need development and improvement, and to increase collaboration and unity among members of the multi-disciplinary team.