Combining health and social protection measures to reach the ultra ...

Research resources✜ A group of nurse researchers in southern Africa have begun afive-year, multi-national study on HIV/AIDS and stigma.Stigma related to HIV/AIDS continues to have a significantimpact on people living with and affected by the disease, aswell as on their health-care providers 4 .✜ Nurse scientists report success of a culturally-specific HIVrisk reduction programme aimed at reducing risky sexualbehaviour among Hispanic youths 5 .✜ Nurse researchers in the United Kingdom have uncoveredhidden early symptoms of lung cancer. The research iscontributing to early detection and management of thedisease.✜ Nurse anaesthetists have recently discovered a faster way totreat Malignant Hyperthermia, a deadly metabolic muscledisorder 7 .✜ A team of nurse scientists from Canada are leading agovernment funded study on near misses and nursing’scontribution to patient safety.✜ Nurse researchers in Botswana are examining the extent ofnurse migration and its impact on health services and thenursing profession. The outcomes will be used to developrecommendations and strategies to inform policy-making 8 .✜ Nurse researcher Dr Kate Lorig and her team have beeninstrumental in developing and testing a model of chronicdisease self-management which has been adopted by anumber of countries throughout the world 9 .✜ Nurse-led research out of the United Kingdom has found thatinterventions undertaken by a diabetes nurse specialistresult in fewer prescribing errors and reduced length of stayfor hospital patients with diabetes 10 .✜ Interdisciplinary teams involving nurse scholars andresearchers from other disciplines are investigating the linkbetween nurses’ contributions and the safety and quality ofpatient care as part of the Interdisciplinary Nursing QualityResearch Initiative 11 .✜ Dr Linda Aiken and colleagues published a landmark studylinking higher nurse staffing levels to lower patient mortalityand increased patient satisfaction. The results are beingused internationally to advocate for safe nurse staffinglevels and patient safety 12 .✜ A nurse researcher has developed an instrument (the BradenScale) to aid health care workers in assessing patient riskfor pressure sores. The tool is widely used in health facilitiesthroughout the world 13 .Box 1: Examples of contributions by nurse researchers to nursing,health and health systems researchpast and being concerned with the present [...] Researchshould comply with accepted ethical standards”.ICN has identified nursing research priorities in two broadareas: (1) health and illness and, (2) delivery of careservices 17 . The Council views gender equality and poverty asimportant cross-cutting issues.Health and illnessNursing research in health and illness focuses on a numberof areas including health promotion, prevention of illness,control of symptoms, living with chronic conditions andenhancing quality of life; caring for patients experiencingchanges in their health and illness; assessing and monitoringpatient problems; providing and testing nursing careinterventions and measuring the outcomes of care. Therecommended nursing research priorities relating to healthand illness include issues such as HIV/AIDS and othersexually transmitted infections, chronic illness, infectioncontrol, women's health and mental health 18 .Delivery of care servicesNursing research priorities in this area focus on quality andcost effectiveness of care, community-based care, nursingworkforce and health care reform. Areas for nursing researchinclude the impact of nursing interventions on patientoutcomes, evidence-based nursing practice, primary healthcare, home-based care, quality of nurses’ work life, retention,satisfaction with work, impact of reform on health policy,programme planning and evaluation, impact upon equity andaccess to nursing care and its effects on nursing, and thefinancing of health care 19 .The global emphasis on the United Nations MillenniumDevelopment Goals, international calls for health systemsstrengthening, the renewed focus on primary health andcommunity-based care and mounting concerns about obesityand chronic, noncommunicable diseases all presentimportant opportunities for the nursing research communityin both industrialized and developing countries. Alsosignificant to nursing are health policy and systems researchand the testing of new models of care delivery, especially asgovernments and employers struggle with rising demand forservices, issues of cost containment and the realities ofrapidly shrinking pools of skilled health care workers 20 .Particular attention to innovative research in evolving areas ofneed such as chronic disease management, care ofvulnerable groups, primary prevention, aged care and disasterpreparedness is needed. These are all areas where the needfor scientific knowledge is great and where nursing excels.Strengthening nursing’s contribution tohealth researchNursing research has evolved significantly over the pastdecade and is now well established in most industrializedcountries. However, its development lags behind in manydeveloping countries. Nursing research in developingcountries is largely underfunded and capacity for research isoften weakened by a limited cadre of trained and skilledresearchers, poor infrastructure and support, little or noaccess to basic technologies, inadequate opportunities forcontinuing education and training and few mentorshipopportunities for new nurse researchers. Further, owing tolimited financial resources, researchers have fewopportunities to present and discuss their findings at national,regional and international levels.Dissemination and utilization of research findings are alsoequally important challenges which resonate globally. Toofrequently new knowledge and evidence lie unused. The needfor effective strategies for research dissemination andGlobal Forum Update on Research for Health Volume 4 ✜ 119