Measuring the outputs of Australian nursing research published 1995-2000

AIMS: To analyse the research published in refereed nursing journals by Australian authors from 1995 to 2000. BACKGROUND: Analysis of the research topics and types of methodologies used by Australian nurse researchers has not been recently undertaken. The study was similar to an analysis of United Kingdom (UK) nursing research between 1988 and 1995 to allow comparison between the two countries. DESIGN: A quantitative approach analysed the research abstracts for the topic researched, source of data, location of data collection, paradigm and methodology used and funding source. RESULTS: A total of 509 articles from 11 generalist Australian and UK nursing journals were analysed. The highest numbers of articles were published in Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing and Journal of Advanced Nursing. The most popular topics were education of nurses (18.7%, n=95) and practice issues relating to patient care (15.3%, n=78). However, scant attention was paid to major Australian health issues. Most research was undertaken in the hospital setting (55.8%, n=247). Data were most often drawn from nurses themselves (40.7%, n=206), followed by patients (25.5%, n=129). Both quantitative (41%, n=203) and qualitative approaches (47%, n=230) were employed. A minority of studies acknowledged any funding (14.9%, n=76). CONCLUSIONS: Research findings need to be applied in practice to improve patient care. Nurse researchers need to publish their findings and align their research interests to meet national health priorities. They need to be involved in setting these health priorities to ensure that nursing has a place in health research.     

Intervention studies in pediatric nursing research: a decade of review.

This article examines the pediatric nursing research published in seven refereed nursing research journals and pediatric practice journals over the past decade. Of the 319 research articles published, 16.6% were intervention studies that evaluated the outcomes of nursing care. Concerns are raised and suggestions made to strengthen the practice-research-theory link in the nursing care of children and their families.     

Actualizing scholarship in senior baccalaureate nursing students

Nursing scholarship is difficult to define and often equated with either research and publication in academia or academic achievement of students, but the definition has recently been broadened to include clinical scholarship. This article emphasizes the connections between the theory of nursing scholarship and its application to advanced clinical practice for senior baccalaureate nursing students. Strategies used to enhance students' ability to operationalize scholarship include reflective journals, development of an abstract and professional paper, and presentation of a paper or poster at the student-led Nursing Scholarship Forum. The Forum is evaluated as a learning activity that helps students actualize scholarship. The results of the evaluation indicate this type of scholarly activity enhances nursing students' transition into the professional practice role.     

Twenty-five years of critical care nursing scholarship in Australia

BackgroundAustralian Critical Care has been published since 1988 and has been an important medium for the development of critical care nursing scholarship in Australia over 25 years.PurposeTo review scholarship in critical care nursing in Australia since 1988 and record its progress in the context of developments in nursing education and intensive and critical care practice.ApproachAustralian Critical Care issues since 1988 were reviewed, and abstracts from the Australian and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting on Intensive Care published in Australian Critical Care since the 1991 Meeting. Available evidence for the contribution of this body of scholarship to critical care nursing practice and patient care was considered.ResultsOriginal research reports and review articles have steadily increased from 1988 to 2012. The peak years for research publications were 2001, 2005 and 2012, and for reviews 2010 and 2011. Approximately 760 abstracts were presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting from 1991 to 2010; overall 24% were found lead to peer-reviewed publications, with an increase to 30% in recent years.SummaryOver 25 years, the scholarship of critical care nursing in Australia has evolved into an established area of disciplinary knowledge, based firmly in practice. Our discipline has witnessed the opportunity for PhD training, the introduction of professorial positions, a knowledge base built on original research and rigorous reviews, and sustainable dissemination. The challenges are to further strengthen this development, increase publication of research that is done, to demonstrate the influence on practice and to develop sustainable research funding.     

Context and contingency in the history of post World War II nursing scholarship in the United States

PURPOSE: To examine the context for the development of nursing scholarship post World War II. METHODS: Historiographical analysis of the social, political, and cultural context of nursing scholarship in the postwar period, with an understanding of how this context shaped nursing scholarship. FINDINGS: The development of nursing scholarship was influenced by three contextual strands: Nurses' use of experiential clinical knowledge to situate practice questions in the changing clinical care milieu of the 1950s to the 1970s; The development of an intellectual genealogy through new educational opportunities at the baccalaureate and graduate level from the 1960s to the 1980s that provided the foundation for reintegrating practice and education; and the creation of a growing cadre of nurse scholars and their political influence on the relationship between power, knowledge, and clinical practice. These formulations are critical for understanding how scholarship changed over time and help us understand contemporary clinical practice, its authority structure, how it helps us define a body of knowledge from which practice proceeds, and then, how it responds to public demands. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing scholarship is nested in a particular social, political, economic, and cultural context. This context also determines how and why it is generated, debated, and used. Its production does not always follow a rational, logical pattern. Nursing knowledge development is influenced as much by the political underpinnings of health care as it is by social, economic, cultural, and scientific foundations.     

Measuring the outputs of nursing research and development in Australia: the researchers.

It is vital for nurses to publish in order to provide evidence of their practice and to increase the knowledge base of their discipline. This paper is one of two that reports on an investigation of the nursing research published by Australian authors from 1995-2000 in 11 nursing journals based in Australia, the UK and the USA. The focus of this article is on the researchers drawn from a total of 509 articles that were content analysed and categorised according to topics of research, paradigm, methods used and funding acknowledgment. The researchers were analysed on the basis of gender, discipline, employment base and location. Publications had from one to 10 authors, averaging two, with 26 authors claiming 23.6% of research articles. The most common discipline area was nursing and universities were the leading area of employment. Authorship was not limited to capital cities reflecting the spread of university campuses in rural areas. Research papers made up 12.5% of possible articles, supporting the notion that few nurses publish research papers in the refereed general nursing journals we focused on.     

Analysis of a decade of nursing practice research: 1977-1986

The purpose of this study was to analyze the research focus, theoretical bases, research designs, statistical methods, and research findings of nursing practice research, 1977-1986. A secondary purpose was to assess the fit of nursing practice research topics within the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association's (NANDA) taxonomy. The sample consisted of 720 articles that met the definitional criteria of nursing practice research from six major refereed journals in nursing that primarily publish nursing research. Findings showed that 95% of research in nursing in the last decade was conducted by nurses as first authors, over half with doctoral degrees. Funded research increased as well as the trend toward multidisciplinary research and multisite studies. One-third of the studies focused on nursing intervention, and two-thirds were assessment-oriented. Although use of nursing conceptual models increased over the decade, theories or models from psychology, physiology, and sociology were used most often. There was an increase in use of sophisticated research methods and better reporting of reliability and validity. The use of NANDA as a taxonomy for classifying nursing practice research was assessed.     

Return of the "intimate outsider": current trends and issues in family nursing research revisited

This article reviews family nursing research published from 1996 to 2011. This is a follow-up to a review published in the Journal of Family Nursing in 1995. Findings from the first review are compared with this one, trends in family nursing scholarship are identified, and predictions and suggestions for future directions are offered. The latest generation of family nursing scholarship is conceptually and methodologically sound, and there is evidence of more multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research conducted by family nursing researchers. Scholars are paying more attention to issues of diversity and family context at present than in the past, although there are still aspects of diversity that need more attention. Strong research programs in family nursing exist worldwide; an international synergism has helped promote rapid expansion of family nursing research and theory development. A vigorous movement to promote research to practice initiatives and greater attention to family interventions are exciting developments.     

Service and scholarship: an evolutionary examination of nursing administration

This article characterizes the evolution and impact of nursing administration scholarship on administrative practice over the past several decades. Through a critical examination of the literature, this article (1) uncovers how the evolution of nursing scholarship has influenced administrative practice over time; (2) articulates a current conceptualization of nursing administration by describing the responsibilities, necessary expertise, and challenges that characterize the work of nurse administrators (NAs); and (3) reflects on these findings to raise questions about how to further cultivate synergistic relationships between nursing science and administrative practice in the future. This synthesis of the literature revealed that partnerships between service and scholarship have been at the heart of advancing administrative education and practice for many years. While the major responsibilities of NAs have not changed significantly over the past several decades, the concepts and measures NAs employ have evolved. Nursing scholarship has refined terminology and developed measures that have changed the ways in which NAs approach their responsibilities and conceptualize their practice. These developments have furthered nurse scholars' efforts to conduct research pertinent to administrative practice. Still, there are many issues left to be explored, and the opportunities for advancing the science in this domain of nursing practice are vast.     

Exploring the development of Australian general practice nursing: where we have come from and where to from here?

Significant development has occurred in the role and scope of Australian general practice nursing in the last decade. Although there has been a nursing presence in Australian general practice for many years (Linn 1977), current workforce shortages and the growing need for chronic and complex disease management and provision of preventive health care in the community have fuelled role development (Halcomb, Patterson & Davidson 2006). In an effort to explore and document the evolution of scholarship and professional development in Australian general practice nursing a content analysis of the proceedings of the four Australian practice nursing conferences was undertaken.This framework allows the mapping of the trajectory related to professional development issues, policy, research and scholarship. Content analysis revealed that the papers presented at each of the four conferences could be broadly divided into six major themes, namely: (1) role of the practice nurse, (2) education and training, (3) research, (4) legal, ethical and risk issues, (5) innovation in clinical practice, and (6) operational and management issues in general practice. Documenting the evolution of this emerging specialty is important in planning initiatives to maximise practice nurses' important contribution to primary health care.     

Validity of Instruments for Measuring Autonomy and Control Over Nursing Practice

Purpose: To review the psychometric properties and evaluate the estimates of validity of commonly used instruments to measure autonomy and control over nursing practice.
Design: Literature review and evaluation of psychometric properties.
Methods: Nursing research reports published in English in peer-reviewed journals between 1990 and 2007 were examined. Psychometric properties and the actual instrument were reviewed to determine validity for measuring autonomy and control over nursing practice.
Findings and Conclusions: Instruments used to measure autonomy and control over nursing practice are frequently imprecise or inaccurate for measuring the concept of interest. Valid instruments are available to allow measurement of the concepts of clinical autonomy, work autonomy, and control over nursing practice. Clear definitions and valid measures are helpful when communicating and synthesizing nursing knowledge concerning these concepts.
Clinical Relevance: Evaluating the validity of instruments for measuring clinical autonomy, work autonomy, and control over nursing practice can be helpful when organizing and synthesizing the literature related to these concepts, so that strategies to improve professional practice environments becomes more clear.     

Transforming Practice Knowledge into Nursing Knowledge—A Revisionist Analysis of Peplau

Nursing practice typically has been viewed as applying knowledge. However, currently, there is increasing awareness that nursing practice is also a process of knowledge development. Still, research and practice are not always connected. Analysis of Peplau's works illuminates a scholarship of nursing practice that is relevant today. This paper focuses on a specific strategy and philosophic perspective, as derived from Peplau, for integrating nursing practice more fully into today's knowledge development. Emphasis is on the need for nursing practice-based theory, as well as nursing theory-based practice.     

Quality of reporting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the nursing literature: application of the consolidated standards of reporting trials (CONSORT)

In the era of evidence-based practice (EBP), Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) may provide the best evidence of the efficacy of nursing interventions and yet the quality of RCT reporting in nursing literature has not been evaluated. The purposes of this study were to apply the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement to published reports of nursing science, examine how adequately the published reports adhere to the statement, and examine the effect of the adoption of CONSORT on the quality of the RCT published reports. One hundred RCTs from 2002-2005 were identified from 4 nursing journals. Articles were randomly assigned to 4 reviewers and the quality of the published reports was evaluated using a modified CONSORT checklist. There was no difference between the 4 journals in the quality of the published reports of RCTs based on the modified CONSORT checklist employed (F = 1.27, P =.29). The quality of reporting of RCTs improved significantly in the only journal, Nursing Research, to adopt the CONSORT statement during the study period (t =-2.70, P =.01). Adoption of CONSORT is recommended as it may lead to an overall improvement in quality of reporting of RCTs in nursing journals. The profession may also wish to explore the use or development of standards similar to CONSORT but ones more appropriate for the types of research typical of that published by nurse scientists.     

Developing leadership and excellence with vulnerable populations in research,education, and practice

The development of leadership and excellence in an area of nursing scholarship depends on the interactions among practice, research, theory, and education. This article describes the development of leadership at the UCLA School of Nursing through scholarship in the health-related problems of vulnerable populations. Leadership in scholarship began and continues in practice, influences education, generates theory, is tested in research, and returns to influence all of these areas. The vitality and creativity of scholarship and science with vulnerable populations depends on an ongoing infusion of knowledge from practice, research, theory, and education. While focusing on one school, there are many that have followed a similar course in developing scholarship and others that may wish to develop their scholarship based on this model.     

Advanced practice nursing: A principle-based concept analysis

Purpose: To analyze and clarify the conceptual basis of advanced practice nursing to determine the state of the knowledge from the perspective of four overarching principles derived from the philosophy of science: epistemological, pragmatic, linguistic, and logical.
Data sources: Written discourse regarding advanced practice nursing from refereed journals published between 2000 and 2007.
Conclusions: Conceptualization of a core definition of advanced practice nursing will enhance external legitimacy and recognition; understanding advanced practice nurse (APN) roles, sub-roles, and competencies will enhance internal cohesion. The outcome of this concept analysis is a greater understanding of the conceptual basis of advanced practice nursing and a current best estimate of the probable truth surrounding advanced practice nursing.
Implications for practice: A greater understanding of the conceptual basis of advanced practice nursing will help to gain clarity, internal cohesion, external legitimacy, and acceptance of APN roles by society and other healthcare professions.     

我国非实验性护理研究发展状况分析

目的:描述我国非实验性护理研究的发展状况。方法:该研究采用内容分析法,手工检索1990-2006年的《中华护理杂志》及《实用护理杂志》(于2003年更名为《中国实用护理杂志》)刊载的2547篇非实验性护理研究论文,进行全文逐篇分析。结果:我国非实验性护理研究论文数量不多,且以描述性研究为主;其占期刊载文量的比例较低,但随时间推进逐渐增加;研究的范围日益扩大,科学性日益增强,但在科研设计、资料收集及分析方面还存在着一些问题。结论:我国非实验性护理研究论文数量自20世纪90年代以来逐渐增加,但在研究的各个方面还存在不足,研究者的科研水平有待提高。     

The role of nursing journals in the advancement of professional nursing*

From modest developments of‘popular’nursing journals many years ago, there has been a prolific growth in the numbers of nursing journals published each year This growth is particularly noteworthy in the increase in the numbers of specialist interest and scholarly nursing journals The different types of journals have also tended to influence each other's contents, as well as the contents of nursing textbooks Over the years, nurses themselves have emerged as the main contributors to the journals Increasingly the focus of all the journals has been on nursing practice — and the factors associated with professional practice and the professional education and development of nurses Whilst it is conceded that it is difficult to demonstrate that nursing journals have made a direct impact on care, some indirect impact can be claimed This claim is based, among other things, on the contribution of nursing journals to the development of nursing as a profession, their contribution to the individual development of professional nurses, and their contribution to the documentation of the body of nursing knowledge