This paper reports a research capacity building exercise with a group of CNCs practicing in the speciality of paediatrics in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It explores the first step in building a research culture, through identifying the research priorities of members of the NSW Child Health Networks Paediatric Clinical Nurse Consultant group, and this forms the major focus of this paper. A nominal group technique (NGT) was utilised with sixteen members to identify research topics for investigation which were considered a priority for improving children's health care. The group reviewed and prioritised 43 research topics in children's health which were identified in the literature. As a result of conducting this research prioritisation exercise, the group chose two research topics to investigate: reasons for children representing to the Emergency Department and a comparison of the use of high-flow and low-flow nasal prongs in children with bronchiolitis. The research team will continue to mentor the nurses throughout their research projects which resulted from the NGT. One bridge to leadership development in enhancing patient care is translating knowledge to practice and policy development. This study leads the way for a group of CNCs in paediatric nursing to combine their research capacity and influence clinical knowledge. 1. Introduction The clinical nurse consultant (CNC) role was established in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, in the late 1980s [1, 2]. It is equivalent to the clinical nurse specialist role in the United States of America [1, 3] and United Kingdom [4]. Heals [5] states that part of the CNCs role is to improve clinical practice, facilitate change, disseminate evidence-based practice, and improve communication in and beyond the health team. There has been continued confusion about the CNC role [1, 2, 6]. In 2005, NSW Health reaffirmed the five domains of practice for CNCs in NSW as clinical service and consultancy, clinical leadership, research, education, and clinical service planning and management [7]. CNCs are required to dedicate their time evenly to each of these domains, however, a study by O’Baugh et al. [1] found that within the research domain less than 60% of CNCs surveyed played a significant part in the development of clinical research. This trend was confirmed in a study in Victoria, Australia, by Bloomer and Cross [6] where a similarly titled role existed. In both studies, the CNCs cited lack of support and workload as reasons for not being able to enact all domains, (in particular, leadership and research), as
References
[1]
J. O'Baugh, L. M. Wilkes, K. Vaughan, and R. O'Donohue, “The role and scope of the clinical nurse consultant in Wentworth area health service, New South Wales, Australia,” Journal of Nursing Management, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 12–21, 2007.
[2]
K. Vaughan, L. M. Wilkes, J. O'Baugh, and R. O'Donohue, “The role and scope of the clinical nurse consultant in Wentworth area health service: a qualitative study,” Collegian, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 14–19, 2005.
[3]
A. L. Appel and P. Malcolm, “The struggle for recognition: the nurse practitioner in New South Wales, Australia,” Clinical Nurse Specialist, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 236–241, 1999.
[4]
W. M. Daly and R. Carnwell, “Nursing roles and levels of practice: a framework for differentiating between elementary, specialist and advancing nursing practice,” Journal of Clinical Nursing, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 158–167, 2003.
[5]
D. Heals, “Development and implementation of a palliative care link-nurse programme in care homes,” International Journal of Palliative Nursing, vol. 14, no. 12, pp. 604–609, 2008.
[6]
M. J. Bloomer and W. M. Cross, “An exploration of the role and scope of the clinical nurse consultant (CNC) in a metropolitan health service,” Collegian, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 61–69, 2011.
[7]
NSW Health, Clinical Nurse Consultants—Domains and Functions, Department of Health, North Sydney, Australia, 2005.
[8]
L. Wilkes and D. Jackson, “Enabling research cultures in nursing: insights from a multi-disciplinary group of experienced researchers,” Nurse Researcher, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 28–34, 2013.
[9]
S. Borbasi, C. Emden, and D. Jackson, “Nursing research programs gather strength in Australia,” Collegian, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 7–10, 2005.
[10]
D. Jackson, “Building research by community,” Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 229–230, 2005.
[11]
D. Jackson, “Servant leadership in nursing: a framework for developing sustainable research capacity in nursing,” Collegian, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 27–33, 2008.
[12]
V. Bishop and D. Freshwater, “Capacity-building and careers in nursing research: rationale and context,” Nursing Times Research, vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 398–406, 2003.
[13]
J. Segrott, M. McIvor, and B. Green, “Challenges and strategies in developing nursing research capacity: a review of the literature,” International Journal of Nursing Studies, vol. 43, no. 5, pp. 637–651, 2006.
[14]
K. M. Baldwin and L. M. Nail, “Opportunities and challenges in clinical nursing research,” Journal of Nursing Scholarship, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 163–166, 2000.
[15]
S. Wilson, A. Ramelet, and S. Zuiderduyn, “Research priorities for nursing care of infants, children and adolescents: a West Australian Delphi study,” Journal of Clinical Nursing, vol. 19, no. 13-14, pp. 1919–1928, 2010.
[16]
S. B？ck-Pettersson, E. Hermansson, N. Sernert, and C. Bj？rkelund, “Research priorities in nursing—a Delphi study among Swedish nurses,” Journal of Clinical Nursing, vol. 17, no. 16, pp. 2221–2231, 2008.
[17]
K. Bannigan, G. Boniface, M. Nicol, A. Porter-Armstrong, R. Scudds, and P. Doherty, “The nature and value of research priority setting in healthcare: case study of the POTTER project,” Journal of Management and Marketing in Healthcare, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 293–304, 2009.
[18]
A. Rafferty, R. Newell, and M. Traynor, “Research and development: policy and capacity building,” in Nursing Research in Context, D. Freshwater and V. Bishop, Eds., p. 33, Palgrave Macmilan, Basingstoke, UK, 2003.
[19]
J. Finch, “Commentary,” Nursing Times Research, vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 427–428, 2003.
[20]
T. Moreno-Casbas, Nursing Research in Europe, Scoping Report, Institute of Health “Carlos III”, Madrid, Spain, 2005.
[21]
H. McKenna and C. Mason, “Nursing and the wider R&D agenda: influence and contribution,” Journal of Research in Nursing, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 108–115, 1998.
[22]
B. McCormack, “Knowing and acting—a strategic practitioner-focused approach to nursing research and practice development,” Nursing Times Research, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 86–100, 2003.
[23]
L. A. Bero, R. Grilli, J. M. Grimshaw, E. Harvey, A. D. Oxman, and M. A. Thomson, “Closing the gap between research and practice: an overview of systematic reviews of interventions to promote the implementation of research findings,” The British Medical Journal, vol. 317, no. 7156, pp. 465–468, 1998.
[24]
F. Bunn and K. Sworn, “Strategies to promote the impact of systematic reviews on healthcare policy: a systematic review of the literature,” Evidence and Policy, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 403–428, 2011.
[25]
L. Adamsen, K. Larsen, L. Bjerregaard, and J. K. Madsen, “Moving forward in a role as a researcher: the effect of a research method course on nurses' research activity,” Journal of Clinical Nursing, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 442–450, 2003.
[26]
M. Murray, Beyond the Myths and Magic of Mentoring: How to Facilitate an Effective Mentoring Process, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, Carlif, USA, 2001.
[27]
M. W. Byrne and M. R. Keefe, “Building research competence in nursing through mentoring,” Journal of Nursing Scholarship, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 391–396, 2002.
[28]
M. H. Mundt, “An external mentor program: stimulus for faculty research development,” Journal of Professional Nursing, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 40–45, 2001.
[29]
V. Weil, “Mentoring: some ethical considerations,” Science and Engineering Ethics, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 471–482, 2001.
[30]
M. E. Broome, B. Woodring, and S. O'Connor-Von, “Research priorities for the nursing of children and their families: a Delphi study,” Journal of Pediatric Nursing, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 281–287, 1996.
[31]
K. Schmidt, L. A. Montgomery, D. Bruene, and M. Kenney, “Determining research priorities in pediatric nursing: a Delphi study,” Journal of pediatric nursing, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 201–207, 1997.
[32]
F. Gibson, J. Bayliss, and J. Hannan, “Establishing nursing research priorities on a paediatric haematology, oncology, immunology and infectious diseases unit: a Delphi survey,” European Journal of Oncology Nursing, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 108–117, 2000.
[33]
M. Aylott, “Research priorities: a Delphi survey,” Paediatric Nursing, vol. 12, no. 10, pp. 16–20, 2001.
[34]
M. Z. Cohen, M. Harle, A. M. Woll, S. Despa, and M. F. Munsell, “Delphi survey of nursing research priorities,” Oncology Nursing Forum, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 1011–1018, 2004.
[35]
T. Moreno-Casbas, C. Martín-Arribas, I. Orts-Cortés, and P. Comet-Cortés, “Identification of priorities for nursing research in Spain: a Delphi study,” Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 857–863, 2001.
[36]
J. Jones and D. Hunter, “Consensus methods for medical and health services research,” in Qualitative Research in Health Care, N. Mays and C. Pope, Eds., pp. 46–58, BMJ, London, UK, 1996.
[37]
M. Moore, “Nominal group technique,” in Group Techniques for Idea Building, M. Moore, Ed., pp. 10–23, Sage, Thousand Oaks, Calif, USA, 1994.
[38]
L. J. Pokorny, K. Lyle, M. Tyler, and J. Topolski, “Introducing a modified nominal group technique for issues identification,” Evaluation Practice, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 40–43, 1988.
[39]
N. Harvey and C. A. Holmes, “Nominal group technique: an effective method for obtaining group consensus,” International Journal of Nursing Practice, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 188–194, 2012.
[40]
W. K. Jefferson, C. Zunker, J. C. Feucht et al., “Use of the nominal group technique (NGT) to understand the perceptions of the healthiness of foods associated with African Americans,” Evaluation and Program Planning, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 343–348, 2010.
[41]
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 3235.0—Population by Age and Sex, Regions of Australia, 2011, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3235.0Main%20Features52011?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3235.0&issue=2011&num=&view=#PARALINK4.
[42]
National Health and Medical Research Council , National statement on ethical conduct in human research, 2007.
[43]
C. V. H. Vincent, “Nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding children's pain,” MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 177–183, 2005.
[44]
D. Gillies, “Identifying research priorities for the health care of children and adolescents,” Contemporary Nurse, vol. 19, no. 1-2, pp. 161–168, 2005.
[45]
K. N. Kajermo, G. Nordstr？m, ？. Krusebrant, and H. Bj？rvell, “Perceptions of research utilization: comparisons between health care professionals, nursing students and a reference group of nurse clinicians,” Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 99–109, 2000.
[46]
S. Corchon, M. C. Portillo, R. Watson, and M. Saracíbar, “Nursing research capacity building in a Spanish hospital: an intervention study,” Journal of Clinical Nursing, vol. 20, no. 17-18, pp. 2479–2489, 2011.
[47]
S. Dopson, “A view from organizational studies,” Nursing Research, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. S72–S77, 2007.
[48]
L. Wilkes and D. Jackson, “Establishing enabling research cultures in nursing: insights from a multi-disciplinary group of experienced researchers,” Nurse Researcher, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 28–34, 2013.
[49]
A. R. Gagliardi, L. Perrier, F. Webster et al., “Exploring mentorship as a strategy to build capacity for knowledge translation research and practice: protocol for a qualitative study,” Implementation Science, vol. 4, no. 1, article 55, 2009.
[50]
J. Mannix, L. Wilkes, and J. Daly, “Attributes of clinical leadership in contemporary nursing: an integrative review,” Contemporary Nurse. In press.
[51]
T. V. McCance, D. Fitzsimons, S. Keeney, F. Hasson, and H. P. McKenna, “Capacity building in nursing and midwifery research and development: an old priority with a new perspective,” Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 57–67, 2007.
