The need for and process of collaborative international research: a replication study of Japanese staff nurse...

Despite differences between countries, people's health needs are similar, as are nursing problems and issues. Collaborative nursing research is needed to identify similarities and differences among countries. Visiting researcher(s), however, must understand the host country's culture and traditions to avert exploitation and misunderstanding. Collaborative research should enhance nursing in each country. The authors describe a replication study, in a Japanese hospital, of nursing administration research previously conducted in the United States, which compared the type of head nurse response staff nurses (n = 126) would prefer in a problem situation with what they perceived their head nurse would use. Included are: (a) a discussion of the need for research with attention to selecting a culturally compatible theory; (b) the history of the visiting and host researcher's relationship; (c) gaining approval to conduct the study; (d) a discussion of all aspects of the research methodology with special attention to reliability and validity in instrument translation; (e) a description of what occurred in Japan prior to and after data collections; and (f) elaboration of the problems and benefits of collaborative international research. Data comparison of the two studies indicated marked similarities between the staff nurses in these two countries.