Uptake of Innovations in Nursing: The Necessity for Implementation Science

Innovations are critical for improving clinical practice and nursing education, and for enhancing learning and practice change for frontline nurses and nursing students. Continuous innovation for delivering safe care and improving patient outcomes is needed. Merely demonstrating the effectiveness of research innovations is not enough to promote their uptake and use in practice. A 2021 study in cancer research reported that moving research into practice takes about 15 years. Implementation science, a systemic process of identifying the most relevant approaches to move research into practice, has emerged as an effective way to bridge the research-practice gap. The purpose of this article is to discuss why and how Implementation Science is necessary to promote the uptake of innovations in clinical and educational practice.