Changing the mental health nursing culture: the nursing clinical development unit approach

Developments in nursing as a profession have been accompanied by a perceived need to increase the relevance of research to nursing practice. The increased exposure to research in nursing curricula and the development of nursing academia has had little impact on either the conduct of clinical research or its utilization within the work place culture. Nursing Clinical Development Units (NCDU) were established with the view to overcoming some of these barriers through partnerships between academia and the clinical field. The aim of NCDU is to strive for improved patient outcomes. Education and research activities should be directed to achieve this patient-orientated outcome. The aim of this paper is to describe the NCDU program introduced by the Centre for Psychiatric Nursing Research and Practice (CPNRP) in Melbourne, Victoria. The way in which the program is designed to facilitate the relationship between CPNRP and the clinical field with the aim of contributing to improved patient outcomes will be emphasized. An evaluation of the program to date suggests that such links will be strengthened, and that this partnership will contribute to a greater involvement in clinically based research.