‘Jumping through hoops’: A metaphor for early career nurse researchers' experiences and resilience building as international collaborators

Abstract

AimTo present and discuss our experiences of learning how to establish and maintain an international collaboration as early career nurse researchers residing in the United States and Australia.BackgroundInternational research collaborations require additional startup time given the complexities of navigating cultural differences, obtaining ethics committee approvals in different countries and collecting human subject data. International collaborations may be daunting for early career researchers given their inexperience and pragmatic focus on research projects that lead to outputs achievable on short timelines for career advancement.DesignDiscussion paper.Data SourcesEvidence from international literature about global collaborations across numerous disciplines, including potential factors that could facilitate or constrain early career researcher efforts to engage in international collaborations, were combined with authors' lived experiences as early career researchers.DiscussionOur collaboration began in July 2022 through a professional introduction spurred by a call for applications to fund global nursing education collaborations. Interpersonal, logistical and organizational factors played a role in our lived experiences of beginning an international collaboration. Our experiences are consistent with published literature about the time and complexity involved in conducting international research.ConclusionInvesting time building interpersonal relationships strengthens international research and supports collaborative learning and intercultural understanding. These professional relationships can be built over time to develop significant bodies of research with international impact. Early career researchers need to be resilient, persistent and tenacious as they ‘jump through hoops’ to establish international research collaborations.ImpactBuilding relationships during international research collaborations supports collaborative learning for intercultural understanding and strengthens research to address emerging global problems. International nursing research collaborations could encourage greater curiosity, innovative ideas and solutions to international problems that could not be achieved in isolation.Patient or Public ContributionThere was no patient or public involvement in the design and development of this paper.

Early career nurse researchers: insights, challenges and strategies for success

“…Tenacity and resilience are also qualities needed by ECRs to be successful. 2 As an ECR, identifying career aims may be straightforward-the challenge lies in how to achieve them. While organisational and individual support can facilitate career pathways for ECRs, the ECR cannot rely on this to progress-they must take responsibility for their own skills development by fostering connections, seeking support and mentorship and undertaking activities which will facilitate their engagement and leadership in nursing research.…”