Doing clinical research: the challenges and benefits.
The need for research in practice is well documented within nursing and other health care disciplines. This acceptance is predicated on the belief that clinically applied research will inform and improve practice and health service delivery resulting in better outcomes for consumers and their families. Nurses, however, find doing clinical research challenging. This paper describes nurses' experiences of doing clinical research. The main challenges of doing clinical research arise from a culture that prioritises practice where nursing work is core business and there is the need to address immediate and short term goals. There are also problems associated with the use of research language amongst clinical nurses and ambiguity in relation to research role expectations. Lack of support and resources for doing research along with keeping up the momentum for a research project also pose significant challenges. The benefits of doing clinical nursing research include experiential learning that has the potential to lead to practice change and improved patient outcomes that are evidence based.
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Centre for Practice, Opportunity and Development (CPOD), Hunter New England Area Health Service, University of Newcastle & Nursing and Midwifery, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
Isabel
I
Higgins
Vicki
V
Parker
Diana
D
Keatinge
Michelle
M
Giles
Rhonda
R
Winskill
Eileen
E
Guest
Elizabeth
E
Kepreotes
Caroline
C
Phelan
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003142:Communication; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D015279:Organizational Culture; D012660:Semantics; D012944:Social Support