Research-based nurse education: understandings and personal accounts

Despite longstanding recognition, in Britain and elsewhere, of the problems of relating research to nursing practice and education, the authors found no previous research on nurse educators' understandings of the term 'research-based nurse education' (RBNE). In a cooperative inquiry, four nurse educators with varying lengths of experience in different kinds of educational institutions explored their understandings of the term and gave accounts of practice of RBNE. Themes from the data are discussed, including the central role of questioning in teaching and learning. These individuals' constructions of RBNE were related to their particular, situated experiences, but also reflect common concerns and issues. The study highlights contradictions and dilemmas arising when the constraints of nursing practice are 'married' to knowledge generation and freedom to learn. The implications of these tensions for higher education of nurses are discussed and further research is proposed.