Research priorities in school nursing: a Delphi process.

As a follow-up to an Invitational Summit Conference in 1999, 27 nurse leaders representing school nursing and nursing research in child health were requested to participate in a Delphi study for purposes of prioritizing research issues in school nursing. The issues to be prioritized were identified during the Invitational Summit meeting. A three-round Delphi process was used to arrive at consensus on the most important research issues affecting school nurses today. Criteria for the rankings included policy support for the research, ability to be funded, magnitude and severity of the problem, likelihood of making a difference, and potential for partnership. The overall response rate for participation in all three rounds was 61%. Consensus was reached on the top-10 most important research issues. The two most important were consistent through all three rounds. These were (a) the impact of school nurse services on student health, and (b) the relationship between school nurse practice and educational outcomes.