The research-practice gap in nursing: Lessons from the research policy debate

Abstract

The combined effects of the evidence-based movement, the introduction of the NHS research and development programme and policies intended to modernise the management of knowledge within the National Health Service have heightened the force of the 'implementation impulse' in research. New and experimental ways are being sought to close the conjunction between research and practice. Nurses are the key 'interface' workers in healthcare, therefore the NHS needs to create a research-rich nursing culture if it is to influence the quality and outcomes of patient care. Much depends upon the policies crafted to build capacity in areas of need and the conditions under which the conduct and commissioning of research operate. Nursing has been exercised by perceived 'barriers' to successful implementation of research for more than a decade. But rarely have discussions on the research-practice gap been informed by insights from research policy literature. The aim of this paper is to bring the two together: to use the insights from the one to interrogate the other. We conclude that the research policy literature provides a context and critique within which the new policy organs managing evidence within the NHS might be evaluated.