DEVELOPING A NURSING RESEARCH CULTURE IN THE UNIVERSITY AND HEALTH SECTORS IN WESTERN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

The context for the development of a research culture in both the heal th and education sectors in Australia is similar to that in other deve loped countries. Contextual factors, especially those resulting from i ncreasing fiscal constraint, militate against improved research produc tivity for nurses in both university and health sectors. Despite this, however, an impressive range of initiatives have been designed and in troduced, both unisectorally and intersectorally, in the last 14 month s to expedite the development of a nursing research culture in Western Sydney. The former include, in the University of Western Sydney (UWS) , reward systems for research productivity and development, the fundin g of Designated Research Groups and Faculty Research Support Units. In the health service they include the funding of a Clinical Development Unit (Nursing) - CDU(N) - leadership program and the provision in 199 7-98 of seed funds for research projects to be undertaken in the CDU(N )s. Intersectoral initiatives include the joint funding of four 'clini cal' nursing Chairs, other sub-professorial positions and a 'flagship' series of nursing research seminars. All these initiatives will be de scribed, together with an assessment of their impact to date, in terms of (1) research productivity, (2) improved intersectoral relationship s and (3) heightened visibility and appreciation of nursing and nursin g research.