Conducting feminist research in nursing: personal and political challenges

The challenges of doing feminist nursing research include both personal and political elements. Some of these arise from the threefold influences of being nurses, women, and academics within a larger social context that may be antithetical to feminist values. This paper explores such challenges, using examples from the research of each of the three authors. It includes discussion of such concepts as the tendency to reify certain methodologies and the political forces that may drive research decisions. The authors summarize the challenges of doing feminist nursing research as learning to integrate diverse approaches rather than adhering to a politically correct way of conducting research. They draw on their own research experiences to illustrate the internal conflicts and personal struggles inherent in overcoming the perception that there is one proper way to conduct feminist inquiry.