Conducting Nursing Research in the School Setting: Lessons Learned

Conducting original research in the school setting advances our understanding of diverse, vulnerable youth with the objective of improving future outcomes through evidence-based health initiatives. School-based research may involve formal collaboration and partnership with school personnel or may be conducted through use of school facilities, site location, or access to participant recruitment. Despite the recognized benefits of school-based research, the school setting presents many unique challenges to the nurse researcher, including obtaining site access and facilitating the implementation of the research study. Traditional nursing research textbooks and training describe research methods, ethics, and applications well. However, these resources provide little information on gaining access to research settings including community settings such as schools. The purpose of this article is to describe researcher experiences in the school setting and identify lessons learned for conducting school-based research. We provide guidance with examples illustrating real-world experiences with access to and completion of research in the elementary and high-school setting. Five lessons learned that support school-based research are identified: 1) do your homework, 2) cultivate relationships, 3) be well prepared and remain flexible, 4) follow the rules, and 5) find ways to give back.