Erik Elgaard Sørensen1, Kathrine Hoffmann Kusk2, Asa Muntlin Athlin3, Kirsten Lode4, Tone Rustøen5, Susanne Salmela6, Bibi Hølge-Hazelton7. 1. Professor and Head of the Clinical Nursing Research Unit, Aalborg University Hospital and Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Denmark. 2. Research Assistant, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Denmark. 3. Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Care and Internal Medicine, Uppsala University Hospital, and Uppsala University, Sweden; University of Adelaide, Australia. 4. Director of Health Care Sciences at Stavanger University Hospital and Assistant Professor at University of Stavanger, Norway. 5. Division of Emergencies and Critical Care, Oslo University Hospital, and Professor, Department of Nursing Science, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Norway. 6. Director of Nursing Development, Vaasa Central Hospital, Finland. 7. Professor in Clinical Nursing, University Hospital Zealand, and Institute for Regional Research, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Little is known about PhD-prepared nurses employed at Nordic university hospitals, how they are organised, what their practices look like or what career pathway they have chosen. AIMS: The purpose was to investigate and compare the prevalence of PhD-prepared nurses employed at university hospitals in the Nordic countries, to investigate what functions they fulfil and what research activities they undertake and to document how they describe their ideal work life. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study. An electronic questionnaire was sent to 245 PhD-prepared nurses working at a university hospital in one of six Nordic countries and 166 responses were achieved (response rate 67%). Descriptive analyses were performed using SPSS Statistics. RESULTS: The study found notable differences among PhD-prepared nurses employed at university hospitals with respect to work function; organisational structure; satisfaction about time split between research and practice; and the mean scores of time spend on research, clinical practice and teaching, supervision and administration. CONCLUSIONS: In order to succeed with capacity building among the nursing workforce, collaboration and networking with other researchers and close contact to clinical practice is important. The role of the hospital-based, PhD-prepared nurse needs to be better described and defined to ensure that evidence-based care is provided.
BACKGROUND: Little is known about PhD-prepared nurses employed at Nordic university hospitals, how they are organised, what their practices look like or what career pathway they have chosen. AIMS: The purpose was to investigate and compare the prevalence of PhD-prepared nurses employed at university hospitals in the Nordic countries, to investigate what functions they fulfil and what research activities they undertake and to document how they describe their ideal work life. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study. An electronic questionnaire was sent to 245 PhD-prepared nurses working at a university hospital in one of six Nordic countries and 166 responses were achieved (response rate 67%). Descriptive analyses were performed using SPSS Statistics. RESULTS: The study found notable differences among PhD-prepared nurses employed at university hospitals with respect to work function; organisational structure; satisfaction about time split between research and practice; and the mean scores of time spend on research, clinical practice and teaching, supervision and administration. CONCLUSIONS: In order to succeed with capacity building among the nursing workforce, collaboration and networking with other researchers and close contact to clinical practice is important. The role of the hospital-based, PhD-prepared nurse needs to be better described and defined to ensure that evidence-based care is provided.
Authors: Linda H Aiken; Douglas M Sloane; Luk Bruyneel; Koen Van den Heede; Peter Griffiths; Reinhard Busse; Marianna Diomidous; Juha Kinnunen; Maria Kózka; Emmanuel Lesaffre; Matthew D McHugh; M T Moreno-Casbas; Anne Marie Rafferty; Rene Schwendimann; P Anne Scott; Carol Tishelman; Theo van Achterberg; Walter Sermeus Journal: Lancet Date: 2014-02-26 Impact factor: 79.321