Health Services Researcher Pathway For Registered Nurses: An Integrative Literature Review

Abstract

Background: Research competencies across nurses' career stages have not been adequately explored. Yet, research skills to appraise, synthesize, and implement research findings are required for evidence-based practice.Purpose: To explore the literature on registered nurse research competencies; to identify core competencies (i.e., knowledge, skills, and attitudes), research capacity-building activities, strategies and recommendations to strengthen nurses' research capacity; and to propose a conceptual developmental framework of nurse research competencies. Methods:As part of a larger project titled "Health Services Researcher Pathway", with the consultation of a health sciences librarian, we conducted an integrative literature review drawing on relevant publications. The PubMed (Medline), CINAHL, Web of Science and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses databases were searched from 2000 to 2012. From the revealed publications (n=1012), only 22 articles were relevant to nurse research competencies. Findings:The key themes cited in the literature reviewed include models and partnerships for building and developing competencies for research production (rather than utilization), and educational strategies and recommendations for interventions to provide confidence in evidence-based practice including research utilization and in clinical decisionmaking. According to the five-step evidence-based practice model (i.e., formation of answerable research questions, literature search and retrieval of the best available evidence, critical appraisal of the evidence, application of research findings into practice, and evaluation of performance based on the outcomes), we propose a framework for a nurse researcher pathway that may contribute to two research competency streams: for research users and research producers. The important area of research users is open for further research, since scarce literature exists. Conclusions:The proposed conceptual developmental framework for a nurse researcher pathway includes essential steps toward evidence-based practice in healthcare that have implications at the micro-level (nurse), mesolevel (organization), and macro-level (society). Our work continues to pilot and refine a nurse researcher pathway and its associated competencies.

Nationwide Environmental Scan of Knowledge Brokers Training

“…Regarding knowledge, the emphasis seems to be on knowledge of KT science, followed by knowledge of different sources of evidence. This finding is consistent with previous studies that found overlap between KT competencies and research competencies, 56,74,75 suggesting that KT competencies encompass more than research competencies for understanding the local context where the KT processes take place. However, a major gap was found in ETOs on providing knowledge about the different KBs-related roles (the five main brokering roles).…”

“…This highlights the overlap between research skills and KT skills. 56,74,75 However, it is important to emphasize that there is a shortage of ETOs available to equip participants with communication and mediation skills; this is problematic considering that KBs need to be skillful in negotiating complex environments when promoting evidence-based decision-making. 79 Developers of ETOs may have deliberately omitted those skills because KBs tend to naturally possess basic communications and networking skills.…”