Proposes an alternative approach to community nursing assessment based on knowledge construction, including assessors' constructions of reality. Notes that qualitative methods such as triangulation allow for multiple viewpoints and evaluation of intangible aspects. (SK)

Examination of two British mental health journals and a government document on the future of nursing found a lack of focus on clinical research and little reference to the role of research and development in practice. The increasing importance of evidence-based practice demands a strategy for developing nurses' capacity to understand, undertake,…

To foster nursing research, institutional services should offer support for the following: (1) professional development; (2) hardware, software, and resources; (3) grant preparation and implementation; (4) instrument selection, data management, and analysis; (5) communications and scholarly writing; and (6) dissemination, publicity, and public…

A sample of 128 of 221 nursing faculty completed a scholarly productivity index and organizational inventory, which did not yield significant relationships between productivity and organizational structure. Productivity and prepublication research activities varied positively with procedural specifications in a highly bureaucratic organizational…

Contains 355 references. Categories include administration/managed care, AIDS, anatomy/physiology, cancer, cardiovascular, communicable diseases, communication, community health, critical care, diet/nutrition, emergency, ethics, family, fundamentals, geriatrics, health promotion, home health, infection, intravenous, diagnosis, legal, long-term…

Practitioner-researchers are emerging in many fields in response to rapid change and a view of research as systematic and rigorously controlled learning. The gap between theory and practice widens because of variations in practice settings, making practitioner knowledge important. Commentaries by Paul Yerrell, David R. Thompson, Philip Burnard,…

Deconstruction of three British nursing research projects found that, due to a "Utopian" perspective, they reintroduce theory-practice gaps they sought to close. Future nursing research should avoid idealistic prescriptions and promote more skeptical and realistic approaches. (SK)

A two-course sequence for teaching qualitative research to doctoral nursing students benefitted from the following elements: co-teaching, small group projects, and the building of research skills in the first semester. (SK)

Describes a master's-level nursing research course taught entirely online, including instructional design considerations (faculty commitments, technical issues, library resources, intellectual property), process (student expectations, participation), and evaluation design. (SK)

Research mentoring during team projects can benefit nursing students, junior faculty, and senior researchers. Key factors for research mentoring include setting clear project goals, defining expectations for proteges, establishing and maintaining good team communication, and sharing values about nursing and research. (Contains 24 references.) (SK)

Survey responses from 67 of 100 accredited nursing baccalaureate programs indicated that fewer than 11% require research methods for freshmen/sophomores; all required a separate research course and 63.5% a statistics course; only one-third required research articles as references for papers and care plans; and 93.7% assigned critiques. (JOW)

Outcomes of the National Commission on Nursing Implementation Project were (1) a study of cost-effective nursing delivery systems; (2) development of nursing information systems; (3) "Nursing's Vital Signs," which documented information collected; (4) the National Nursing Image Campaign; and (5) initiatives to redesign nursing education,…

Scientific fraud is often a result of misguided attempts to attain professional success. To prevent fraud in nursing research, researchers should be socialized in an atmosphere of professional integrity, have established researchers as role models, and be rewarded for quality rather than quantity. (SK)

A group of 44 graduate nursing students were taught using the Internet and 53 via lectures. There were no significant differences in scores or satisfaction. However, Internet students were significantly more stimulated to learn; 73% attended at least 3 of 10 lectures although they were not required to. (SK)

Review of eight studies evaluating strategies for teaching nursing research found they emphasized contextual rather than internal or external validity. A typology for research on teaching strategies was proposed using the categories of purpose, methodological assumptions, types of validity, and sample size. (Contains 45 references.) (SK)