A. Kitson et L. Currie, CLINICAL-PRACTICE DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES IN 4 DISTRICT HEALTH AUTHORITIES, Journal of clinical nursing, 5(1), 1996, pp. 41-51
This review is based on findings from a postal survey undertaken betwe
en March and September 1993 to elicit information from nurses in four
district health authorities regarding development and research activit
y in which they were involved. The objectives of the review were to ob
tain baseline information on the extent, variety and scope of work bei
ng carried out, to provide staff with a mechanism for networking good
practice and to identify any areas of replication. A snowball sampling
technique was used to obtain information from nursing personnel. A to
tal of 141 responses were received out of which 4% (n = 5) reported no
activity. Response rates varied between organizations and specialist
groups but were similar in terms of the number of small-scale clinical
practice developments undertaken without identified support or superv
ision. Fifty-five per cent (n = 75) of the reported developments relat
ed to the organization and management of services while 11% (n = 15) f
ocused on consumer-related issues. Few studies identified disseminatio
n strategies and there was generally a lack of clarity over expected b
enefits of the study in terms of measurable outcomes to the organizati
on, nursing staff or patients. Funding for clinical practice developme
nt and research in nursing was found to be very sparse; the reasons fo
r this were not identified. Overall the review confirmed statements fr
om other sources (DoH, 1993a,b) that nursing development and research
tends to be small scale and unsupported with nursing staff trying hard
to implement research findings or be innovative in their practice wit
hout the necessary expertise and support. Such findings have implicati
ons for the current drive to implement research into practice.