THE THEORY-PRACTICE GAP IN NURSING - FROM RESEARCH-BASED PRACTICE TO PRACTITIONER-BASED RESEARCH

The aim of nursing research is generally agreed to be the generation o f knowledge, and whilst this is a relevant aim in theory-based discipl ines such as sociology, the primary concern of nursing is with practic e. Using examples drawn mainly from the field of mental health, it wil l be argued in this paper that the application of generalizable, resea rch-based knowledge to individual, unique, person-centred practice, th e so-called 'research-based practice' advocated by the Department of H ealth, is one of the main causes of the theory-practice gap. It will b e further suggested that nursing requires a paradigm of clinical resea rch which focuses on the individual therapeutic encounter in order to complement the existing sociological paradigm of theoretical research which is best suited to the generation of generalizable knowledge and theory. The paper will conclude by suggesting that such a clinically b ased research paradigm must not only focus on the individual nurse-pat ient relationship, but that it must be carried out by the nurse hersel f. Clinical research, if it is to make a difference to practice, must therefore be practitioner-based research.