Clinicians' experiences of participating in an action research study

The objective of this paper is to share our experiences of participating in an action research project designed to improve the care of older people at risk of delirium. The setting for the study and the subject of this paper was a busy medical ward in a 550 bed regional tertiary referral hospital located in New South Wales, Australia. The participants for the project and the authors of this paper include clinical nursing and allied health staff based on the ward at the time of the study. In the discussion that follows we outline details of the study, participatory action research (PAR), what we were asked to do to participate, our reasons for agreeing to participate, our expectations of the project, the group process, the PAR cycles: look, think and act, and the benefits and challenges of participating in the project. In conclusion we highlight the gains of participating in PAR and we make recommendations for the future.