Implementing a clinical academic career pathway in nursing; criteria for success and challenges ahead

Abstract

Following the United Kingdom Clinical Research Collaboration's (UKCRC) (2007) recommendations on careers in clinical research, there has been growing anticipation in the United Kingdom about the real potential for establishing career pathways for nurses and allied health professionals that will enable them to combine a focus on both clinical and academic roles. However, it is recognized that the implementation of this initiative will require charting largely untested waters, with issues ranging from establishing joint University: health service employment contracts, to harmonizing clinical and research roles and ensuring sustainability of funding for clinical academic posts. This paper will outline the implementation of a pilot clinical academic career initiative, which has been modelled on the UKCRC framework. We will illuminate the processes and structures employed and reflect on the factors that appear critical to the successful establishment of a clinical academic career pathway. Additionally, our experience has enabled us to identify challenges that will need to be addressed by a range of stakeholders if clinical academic careers

Combining clinical practice and academic work in nursing: A qualitative study about perceived importance, facilitators and barriers regarding clinical academic careers for nurses in university hospitals

“…Latter et al. () describe the lack of strong track records as a threat to the implementation of clinical academic career pathways for nurses due to the fact that publishing is paramount in the academic world. Nurses should, therefore, be given clear roles and positions within the hospital organisation, and they should have protected time to do academic work (Kim, ).…”

“…Furthermore, support at the strategic and tactical levels is indispensible in facilitating these nurse academics. Clearly defined roles, remuneration structures, robust partnerships between the hospital on the one hand and the medical university and university of applied sciences on the other hand, and a dedicated clinical chair are crucial for powerful positioning and successful implementation of a clinical academic career pathway (Latter et al., ; Logan et al., ). Therefore, managers should realise that they have a key role in furthering clinical academic careers for nurses.…”

“…For mainstream clinical academic careers for nurses, it is important to implement “embedded pathways based on consolidated funding and increased numbers of substantive posts” (Latter et al., ; p 141). The nurse academics in this study experienced the absence of suitable funding infrastructures as a major barrier to combining clinical and academic work.…”

“…It would contribute to the development of clinically skilled and academically robust professionals. These pathways would also create flexible career opportunities for nurses and attract nurses to clinically focused research early in their careers (Latter, Clark, Geddes, & Kitsell, ).…”

The Missing Link: The Role of Social Work Schools and Evidence-Based Practice

“…Maintaining the clinician/researcher model is supported in other disciplines practice-based disciplines, such as medicine and nursing (Latter, Clark, Geddes, & Kitsell, 2009;Ley & Rosenberg, 2005). These experiences would not only increase the appreciation for the complexities associated with translating research into practice within community settings, but would model for social work students the importance of maintaining both hats within social work, the researcher and the practitioner (Stricker, 2007).…”