title: The Study of Nursing Care project: back to the future for contemporary nursing research?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To discuss the Study of Nursing Care project, an initiative from the late 1970s in the UK. The article explores the impact of the Study of Nursing Care on nursing research, and considers to what extent it presents a useful model for contemporary nursing research.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  It is acknowledged internationally that the nursing academic workforce is ageing and dwindling. Many possible solutions are being debated with all agreeing that the next generation of evidence based nurse leaders is urgently required.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this article, the authors survey existing workforce schemes, describe the Study of Nursing Care series, published in the 1970s, and draw on interviews and correspondence conducted in 2009 with four of the original Study of Nursing Care research assistants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Study of Nursing Care project poses a potential response to academic workforce issues. This article discusses the evolution of the project, its methods and operation and considers its possible implications for contemporary practice. Implications for nursing.  The Study of Nursing Care model demonstrates the clear benefits of fully committed funding, a programmatic approach towards research development, and the importance of selecting the right kind of people for the work, in a national scheme.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors argue that although the clinical outcomes it set out to achieve remain elusive, the project produced a cohort of nurse researchers who went on to give important leadership in nursing, including in nursing academia/research. A contemporary version of the Study of Nursing Care has important potential to generate the next generation of nurse researchers, and leaders, into the twenty-first century.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Health Initiatives, School of Nursing Midwifery and Indigenous Health, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. kyliesm@uow.edu.au
authors.forename: Kylie M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Patrick A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Crookes
mesh_terms: D004518:Education, Professional, Retraining / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration*; D055318:Evidence-Based Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration; D010560:Personnel Selection / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014146:Training Support / Q000266:history / Q000458:organization & administration; D006113:United Kingdom; D000078329:Workforce