The need for research in practice is well documented within nursing and other health care disciplines. This acceptance is predicated on the belief that clinically applied research will inform and improve practice and health service delivery resulting in better outcomes for consumers and their families. Nurses, however, find doing clinical research challenging. This paper describes nurses' experiences of doing clinical research. The main challenges of doing clinical research arise from a culture that prioritises practice where nursing work is core business and there is the need to address immediate and short term goals. There are also problems associated with the use of research language amongst clinical nurses and ambiguity in relation to research role expectations. Lack of support and resources for doing research along with keeping up the momentum for a research project also pose significant challenges. The benefits of doing clinical nursing research include experiential learning that has the potential to lead to practice change and improved patient outcomes that are evidence based.
The experience of parenting children with chronic health conditions: a new reality Aim. This study was undertaken to synthesise recent qualitative literature in the years 2000 to 2009, exploring the phenomenon of parents' experiences of parenting a child with one or more chronic health conditions. Background. The experience of parenting children with chronic health conditions has been predominantly studied by examining the effects of specific illnesses such as sickle cell anaemia and cystic fibrosis. While the chronic conditions may differ, the parents of children with any chronic illness appear to experience similar phenomena as they care for and parent their affected children. Method. Metasynthesis is an exacting process of analysis of focused qualitative research results aimed at advancing knowledge and concept development through the synthesis and summation of themes and concepts extracted from the included studies.Results. The parents of children with a wide range of chronic conditions described similar experiences in the reviewed qualitative studies. The key findings of this metasynthesis were major themes describing grief, particularly relating to the diagnosis, and as an ongoing chronic state; a lack of information; and the inadequacy of some relationships with professionals. Conclusion. This metasynthesis provides an enhanced empirical understanding of the experiences of people who parent and care for children with chronic health conditions as described by the reviewed literature. While it is apparent that many of these experiences are perceived as negative and undesirable, parents are also noted to describe positive experiences which enhance their lives and give them meaning. Relevance to clinical practice. This metasynthesis provides healthcare professionals with information pertaining to the lived experiences of the parents of children with chronic health conditions. It highlights areas requiring special attention such as communication, support, and understanding, and challenges the concepts of familycentred care and true partnership between the child, parents and professionals.
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