The Experiences of Clinical Academic Nurses: A Meta-Aggregation

Historically, clinical academic careers were only available for dental and medical professions. The title of a clinical academic nurse is recognized as a role that concurrently engages in both clinical practice and research. This systematic review aimed to synthesis qualitative evidence to understand the experiences of clinical academic nurses.

A meta-aggregation systematic review was conducted. Key search terms were used in CINAHL and MEDLINE. The review has been reported according to ENTREQ checklist. This meta-aggregation review followed the principles from Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and the reviewers conducted a methodological quality assessment on all included studies. Qualitative studies which explored experiences of clinical academic nurses were included.

A total of 2,202 articles identified five studies met the inclusion criteria. Five synthesized findings from the included qualitative studies, related to (i) clinical academic preparation, (ii) challenges, (iii) enablers, (iv) clinical practice, and (v) role expectation of clinical academic nursing roles. The meta-aggregation has identified that although there are numerous clinical academic nursing discussion articles, commentaries, and editorials on the topic area, few empirical studies have explored the perceptions and experiences of clinical academic roles in nursing.

This systematic review has highlighted the variety of reported experiences of clinical academic nursing in relation to implications for practice, research, and leadership. Clinical academic roles are being developed across the nursing professions outside of medicine, and effective leadership it is important to support sustainable career pathways and curricula and to enable the evaluation of these roles. This review has made an important contribution to the literature by highlighting several issues to consider in developing and safeguarding the progress already made in clinical academic nursing career pathways.