Nursing research information: are nurse educators and practitioners seeking it out?

This paper is concerned with if and how nurses are obtaining information on research into nursing. It is based on the results of a wider survey conducted in Northern Ireland in 1979, the aim of which was to assess the degree to which those most concerned with administering, managing, and teaching patient care were managing to obtain and implement information on nursing research. The main sources examined were nursing journals, nurse education curricula, and libraries relevant to nursing. For the purpose of the survey the writer took the view that, in terms of the relationship between nursing and practice, any dichotomy of opinion as to what nursing research is, or is not, is largely semantic. It was decided, therefore, to adopt the holistic approach to the term 'nursing research' as supported by Treece & Treece (1977) who claimed that 'Nursing Research includes the breadth and depth of the discipline of nursing, the rehabilitive, therapeutic and preventive aspects of nursing, as well as the preparation of practitioners and personnel involved in the total nursing sphere.