ABSTRACT
Since Florence Nightingale’s initial studies on sanitation and patient practices, nurse executives have followed in her footsteps to create policies and procedures, and conducted evidence-based research for the basis of nursing protocols. Following the esteemed research of Nightingale, the American Nurses Association (ANA) conducted research and identified nursing-sensitive indicators, which demonstrate the effect of nursing care on patient outcomes (American Nurses Association, n.d.). Further, the ANA outlines standards for this future research, which ultimately represents nursing’s commitment to research and innovation. Based on this historical commitment from nursing, a representative sample of nurse executives from the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) was surveyed to determine their readiness and ability to innovate.
