'A cooperative venture' in pursuit of professional status: a research journal for nursing

Increased demand for nurses to provide post-World War II expanded health care services compelled the government to create the financial and programmatic resources necessary to meet that demand. These resources, located mainly in academic institutions, required nurses to achieve the same credentials that obtain in other academic disciplines. The research activities spawned in this process needed a publishing outlet and nurse-educators created Nursing Research to provide that outlet. But some nurses always did research of a sort. The publication of Nursing Research in 1952 signified public, institutional recognition for research in nursing. Nurses initially approached the process of research in a manner that typified quintessential nursing procedure. Intently focused on process, the editors used the journal to teach the research process, yet did not define what constituted a proper study until 1959. All but a few focused on "doing" research and following correct procedures. Researchers mainly investigated practical questions addressing day-to-day issues of interest to the investigator--whether clinician, teacher, or manager. Creative ideas were not their central concerns. Although the journal's content changed over the years, its process of socializing nurses into the intricacies of research persisted until the 1980s. How to do research, the focus of the 1950s, became what is methodology in the 1960s, what is theory and how to get funded in the 1970s. The 1980s brought to fruition the journal's professional agenda to publish fully developed, frequently funded, theory-grounded research articles of which at least half consistently reported clinical studies. Increased replication to improve predictability and wider application in nursing practice comprise the current agenda.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)