Scholarly nursing practice from the perspectives of experienced nurses.
OBJECTIVE
This paper is a report of a study to describe scholarly nursing practice from the perspectives of experienced nurses.


BACKGROUND
Theoretically, nursing scholarship has been well-described in the literature and flourishes in academic environments. Nursing organizations and nurse leaders worldwide have embraced the value of and need for scholarship to advance the profession. However, the concept of scholarship has yet to be empirically examined within the practice setting from the perspectives of experienced nurses.


METHODS
A qualitative descriptive research design was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 experienced nurses purposively sampled from four acute care hospitals in north-eastern United States of America. The focus of the interviews was to understand how these nurses viewed themselves and their practice. The data were collected between 2004 and 2006 and analysed using content analysis.


RESULTS
Participants clearly articulated personal attributes and professional behaviours that characterized scholarly nursing practice. Two overarching inter-related categories emerged: 'Who I Am' and 'What I Do'. Themes within 'Who I Am' were Active Learner, Out of the Box Thinker, Passionate about Nursing, Available and Confident. Themes within 'What I Do' were Being a Leader, Caring, Sharing Knowledge with Others, Evolving and Reflecting on Practice.


CONCLUSIONS
Scholarly nursing practice needs to be empirically examined worldwide. Additional studies should focus on scholarly nursing practice with nurses in varying stages of career development, in various types of practice settings, and in different cultures.
Riley
Joan
J
Emmanuel College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. riley@emmanuel.edu
Beal
Judy A
JA
Lancaster
Diane
D
D000124:Achievement; D000208:Acute Disease / Q000451:nursing; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000592:standards*; D036262:Empirical Research; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015399:Nursing Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States