Developing self-evaluation skills: a pragmatic research-based approach for complex areas of nursing

Using a newly established community rehabilitation service as the research context, Gill Hek explores ways in which practitioners pragmatically developed self-evaluation research skills. Within the practice setting, community practitioners learnt how to conduct and analyse interviews with service users, and to develop connected database records that could be used across health and social services. The teaching-learning process and the teacher-learner relationship were used as models for researching in this complex area. The project demonstrated how community rehabilitation teams developed self-evaluation research skills to a point where they were able to reflect critically on the service they were providing. Supported by a research team, they were able to use research skills to analyse the volume and throughput of their service. They were also able to establish what needed to be done next within the challenging environment at the interface of health and social care in the community.