Translational medicine is considered as a relatively new branch of science which is a combination of other branches of the biomedical field. It is supported by three main pillars namely (1) benchside; (2) bedside; and (3) community. The main purpose of translational medicine is to incorporate and improve the different disciplines, resources, expertise, and even techniques within the three main pillars. These improvements can help improve the different interventions and strategies focused on prevention, diagnosis, and therapies in the healthcare sector (Cohrs, et al., 2015; Titler, 2004).
Nurses are considered as stakeholders when it comes to translational medicine because they are involved in determining how individuals respond to certain illnesses and how they adapt to changes in the body by utilizing data and observations obtained from the clinical settings of health institutions. The data and observations from clinical settings will then be used for the design and development of basic and applied research including the different interventions and strategies. Thus, the application of translational medicine in advanced nursing practice is critical when it comes to the improvement of translational science (Grady, 2010).
Translation science is considered as a beneficial in the field of advanced nursing practice because it allows development of different techniques and strategies that can be utilized to translate new knowledge and observations obtained from a clinical or laboratory environment to human testing. Aside from this, translational medicine also allows refinement of the different results obtained from human studies for application in clinical use. Additionally, the knowledge and practices obtained from different academic medical centers will be utilized for the various care interventions in the community practice. The continuous evaluation and assessment of obtained data from previous studies can also be used to provide support when it comes to the efficacy and tolerability of the newly developed strategies and interventions. Moreover, translational science can be used as an effective tool to significantly improve the quality of patient care provided in different health institutions. Furthermore, nurses and health professionals will be able to utilize knowledge and observations to determine and assess the progression of disease which can help develop new discoveries. Lastly, the field of translation research is considered as an effective way of hastening the application process of new research findings to patients which can ultimately drive the process of research at a faster pace (Wynters, 2013).
Despite the numerous advantages of translational medicine, the health sector is still facing challenges in terms of overcoming the different barriers associated with it. Some of the acknowledged barriers of translational science and evidence-based practice include (1) insufficient and inadequate time to search for significant research reports; (2) insufficient and inadequate time to search for necessary information needed for particular organizations (guidelines and protocols); (3) absence of confidence when it comes to research assessment and evaluation; (4) language barriers (inadequate knowledge on the English language and insufficient working hours to be able to implement change in practice. Additionally, the dependence of the implementation of evidence-based practice on the attitudes, barriers, and knowledge of nurses is considered as complex and problematic because these factors affect the transferrable of obtained information and knowledge into clinical practice (Hadgu, Almaz, and Tsehay, 2015).
In totality, translational medicine as an interdisciplinary science is considered as a significant development in the field of healthcare because of its ability to translate new knowledge into practice. However, despite the numerous advantages associated with this science, there are still numerous barriers that should be addressed by the health institutions and organizations to ensure improvement of the quality of patient care.
References
Cohrs, R.J., Martin, T., Ghahramani, P., Bidaut, L., Higgins, P.J., and Shahzad, A. (2015). Translational Medicine definition by the European Society for Translational Medicine. New Horizons in Translational Medicine 2(3):86-88.
Grady, P.A. (2010). News from NINR: Translational research and nursing science. Nursing Outlook 58(3): 164-166.
Hadgu, G., Almaz, S., and Tsehay, S. (2015). Assessment of Nurses’ Perceptions and Barriers on Evidence Based Practice in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital Addis Ababa Ethiopia. American Journal of Nursing Science 4(3): 73-83.
Titler, M.G. (2004). Methods in Translation Science. Worldviews Evidence Based Nursing 1(1): 38-48.
Wynters, C. (2013). The Advantages of Translational Research Methodology. Criterium. Retrieved from https://criteriuminc.com/wordpress/index.php/the-advantages-of-translational-research-methodology/ [Accessed on 9 May 2016]
