Approaches for establishing and sustaining clinical academic partnerships: A discursive review

Abstract

Aims and objectives To discuss the need for a formalised structure that bridges the clinical and academic realms with concrete recommendations for programme development. Background In the rapidly changing landscape of health care, nurses are challenged with the responsibility to engage in evidence‐based practice, quality improvement and research projects. Clinical and academic partnerships play a vital role in fostering collaboration, mentorship and resources. Design Discursive paper. Method Searching international literature published between 2010–2020 in PubMed, CINAHL and Google Scholar, we explored the benefits, barriers and facilitators of clinical academic partnerships from the available evidence and professional perspectives from both sides of a clinical/academic collaboration. Discussion Evidence‐based literature supports the establishment of partnerships schools of nursing and clinical institutions to improve patient outcomes and experiences and provide additional resources for improved research and practice capacity between both entities. Barriers to establishing clinical academic partnerships included lack of time, lack of formal collaborations and knowledge deficits. Facilitators included visible leadership endorsement, mentoring and modelling a culture of inquiry. Conclusions The establishment of formalised clinical academic partnerships can be used to develop continuing education programmes, promote engagement in nursing inquiry, fill in knowledge gaps in practice and improve available resources and patient outcomes. There is a great need for capacity building in hospitals, superficially, those with a mission to address the research‐practice gap, promote nursing excellence and improve patient outcomes. Relevance to clinical practice Nurse leaders play an instrumental role in establishing sustainable clinical academic partnerships that create shared resources, resulting in mutual benefit, and influences a much‐needed shift in organisational culture and infrastructure.

Developing a culture of nursing research through clinical‐academic partnership

“…18 Establishing a clinical-academic collaboration or partnership is a mutually beneficial key resource for supporting and promoting scientific nursing enquiry, overcoming clinician and academic barriers to engaging in scientific inquiry, and improving patient outcomes. 19…”

“…Another important aspect is the participation of an academic facilitator or having access to research experts, 14,16,17 indeed in one study it was identified as the top facilitator 18 . Establishing a clinical‐academic collaboration or partnership is a mutually beneficial key resource for supporting and promoting scientific nursing enquiry, overcoming clinician and academic barriers to engaging in scientific inquiry, and improving patient outcomes 19 …”

Academic-practice partnerships in evidence-based nursing practice: a scoping review protocol

“…Previous studies have confirmed the necessity and significance of academic-practice partnerships in nursing education and discipline development 13 14. Academic-practice partnerships that enhance education and research by sharing resources and specialties can be used to develop continuing education programmes and promote the generation and application of beneficial knowledge through joint planning and cooperation 12 15 16. Some literature also suggested that academic-practice partnerships had the potential to overcome some crucial barriers (eg, inadequate EBNP competence and training of clinical practice nurses, lack of patients and practice environments for academic nurses) to evidence-based practice by sharing resources and qualified personnel in clinical and academic settings 8 9 17…”

“…This search yielded seven reviews that focused on academic-practice partnerships in nursing. These reviews discussed the benefits, models, processes, structures and influencing factors in academic-practice partnerships in nursing education and/or research 11 15 17 21–23. However, there is a lack of reviews on academic-practice partnerships from the perspective of EBNP.…”

“…Therefore, a full review of the existing literature on this topic (ie, academic-practice partnerships in EBNP) is necessary. The findings could provide the foundation for theoretical development, intervention development and practice of academic-practice partnerships in EBNP 15. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review is to explore the literature on academic-practice partnerships in EBNP and to classify, compare and summarise the results or opinions obtained from various types of literature to identify the existing knowledge and gaps in the research.…”