Nurse Researcher
Editorial
EDITOR
Leslie Gelling PhD, MA, BSc(Hons), RN, FRSA Email: [email protected]
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Denis Anthony PhD, MSc, BA(Hons) RMN, RN (Canada) SRN Chair in applied health research, School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, UK Steven Campbell PhD, BNurs, RN, RSCN, RHV, NDN Cert, FRSH Head of school, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Tasmania, Australia Sally Dampier BScN, RN, MMedSc, SRM, RSCN, PGDE Professor, Confederation College, Ontario, Canada Linu Sara George PhD, MSc(Nurs), MS(Coun&Psych) Professor of mental health nursing and head of the department of fundamentals of nursing, Manipal University, Karnataka, India Kate Gerrish PhD, MSc, BNurs, RN Professor of nursing research, University of Sheffield, UK Desley Hegney PhD, BA(Hons), RN, Dip Nurse Ed Winthrop professor of nursing, University of Western Australia and Centre for Nursing Research Barbara Jack PhD, MSc, BSc(Econ), RCN, RNT, PGDE Head of research and scholarship, Faculty of Health, Edge Hill University, UK Maria Jirwe PhD, RN Senior lecturer, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Athena Kalokerinou-Anagnostopoulou PhD, BSc, RN Associate professor in community nursing, University of Athens, Greece Dave O’Carroll BA(Hons) Information manager, RCN R&D Co-ordinating Centre, UK Debra Salmon PhD, MSc, BA, SCPHN, HV, RNA, RNC, LPE Professor of nursing research, University of the West of England Bristol, UK Julie Taylor PhD, MSc, BSc(Hons), RN Head of strategy and development, NSPCC Centre for Learning in Child Protection Alison Twycross PhD, MSc, RGN, RMN, RSCN, DMS, CertEd(HE) Head of department for children’s nursing and reader in children’s pain management, London South Bank University Frances Kam Yuet Wong PhD RN Professor and associate dean, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Jiang Xiaolian PhD Associate director, West China School of Nursing/Department of Nursing, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China © RCN PUBLISHING / NURSE RESEARCHER
Research is every nurse’s business After five years and 25 editions of Nurse Researcher, this will be my last editorial before I move on to take an editorial position at the Journal of Clinical Nursing. It has been my great pleasure to work with the RCN Publishing Company editorial team on a number of significant changes to the style and content of the journal during that time. The journal also looks very different now to when I took up the editor’s position and I know that the company has plans to develop and improve it further. For many reasons, I would have liked to have been part of these developments, but the time is right – for me and the journal – to move on and let someone else bring new energy. I look forward to watching the journal continue to grow. During my time as editor, the climate in which clinical research is conducted in the UK and other parts of the world has also changed beyond recognition. The number of clinical research nurses and the considerable support available to them has resulted in many taking leading roles in planning, conducting and reporting excellent clinical research. This research has undoubtedly contributed to developments in patient care and expanding knowledge and understanding of many illnesses.
Increasing the number of clinical nurses completing doctorates remains a challenge for nursing and healthcare providers
Leslie Gelling Editor
There has also been an increase in the opportunities for nurses engaged in research to develop their careers, with many undertaking postgraduate and doctoral studies. This edition’s two themed papers offer an insight into the concept of originality, which is a fundamental requirement for all doctoral research. The number of nurses completing doctorates has grown but increasing the number of clinical nurses completing doctorates remains a challenge for nursing and healthcare providers. The RCN Research Society believes in the mantra that ‘research is every nurse’s business’, but there are still too few nurses who feel comfortable engaging with research. One of the first things new doctoral students are told is that completing a doctorate does not create the expert researcher but should be treated as advanced research training. At a time when evidence-based nursing practice is increasingly being emphasised, there should be an even greater drive to increase the number of nurses completing doctorates. Leslie Gelling is reader in research ethics at the Faculty of Health and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
July 2014 | Volume 21 | Number 6
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Oct 27, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Editorial
EDITOR
Leslie Gelling PhD, MA, BSc(Hons), RN, FRSA Email: [email protected]
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Denis Anthony PhD, MSc, BA(Hons) RMN, RN (Canada) SRN Chair in applied health research, School of Healthcare, University of Leeds, UK Steven Campbell PhD, BNurs, RN, RSCN, RHV, NDN Cert, FRSH Head of school, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Tasmania, Australia Sally Dampier BScN, RN, MMedSc, SRM, RSCN, PGDE Professor, Confederation College, Ontario, Canada Linu Sara George PhD, MSc(Nurs), MS(Coun&Psych) Professor of mental health nursing and head of the department of fundamentals of nursing, Manipal University, Karnataka, India Kate Gerrish PhD, MSc, BNurs, RN Professor of nursing research, University of Sheffield, UK Desley Hegney PhD, BA(Hons), RN, Dip Nurse Ed Winthrop professor of nursing, University of Western Australia and Centre for Nursing Research Barbara Jack PhD, MSc, BSc(Econ), RCN, RNT, PGDE Head of research and scholarship, Faculty of Health, Edge Hill University, UK Maria Jirwe PhD, RN Senior lecturer, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden Athena Kalokerinou-Anagnostopoulou PhD, BSc, RN Associate professor in community nursing, University of Athens, Greece Dave O’Carroll BA(Hons) Information manager, RCN R&D Co-ordinating Centre, UK Debra Salmon PhD, MSc, BA, SCPHN, HV, RNA, RNC, LPE Professor of nursing research, University of the West of England Bristol, UK Julie Taylor PhD, MSc, BSc(Hons), RN Head of strategy and development, NSPCC Centre for Learning in Child Protection Alison Twycross PhD, MSc, RGN, RMN, RSCN, DMS, CertEd(HE) Head of department for children’s nursing and reader in children’s pain management, London South Bank University Frances Kam Yuet Wong PhD RN Professor and associate dean, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Jiang Xiaolian PhD Associate director, West China School of Nursing/Department of Nursing, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China © RCN PUBLISHING / NURSE RESEARCHER
Research is every nurse’s business After five years and 25 editions of Nurse Researcher, this will be my last editorial before I move on to take an editorial position at the Journal of Clinical Nursing. It has been my great pleasure to work with the RCN Publishing Company editorial team on a number of significant changes to the style and content of the journal during that time. The journal also looks very different now to when I took up the editor’s position and I know that the company has plans to develop and improve it further. For many reasons, I would have liked to have been part of these developments, but the time is right – for me and the journal – to move on and let someone else bring new energy. I look forward to watching the journal continue to grow. During my time as editor, the climate in which clinical research is conducted in the UK and other parts of the world has also changed beyond recognition. The number of clinical research nurses and the considerable support available to them has resulted in many taking leading roles in planning, conducting and reporting excellent clinical research. This research has undoubtedly contributed to developments in patient care and expanding knowledge and understanding of many illnesses.
Increasing the number of clinical nurses completing doctorates remains a challenge for nursing and healthcare providers
Leslie Gelling Editor
There has also been an increase in the opportunities for nurses engaged in research to develop their careers, with many undertaking postgraduate and doctoral studies. This edition’s two themed papers offer an insight into the concept of originality, which is a fundamental requirement for all doctoral research. The number of nurses completing doctorates has grown but increasing the number of clinical nurses completing doctorates remains a challenge for nursing and healthcare providers. The RCN Research Society believes in the mantra that ‘research is every nurse’s business’, but there are still too few nurses who feel comfortable engaging with research. One of the first things new doctoral students are told is that completing a doctorate does not create the expert researcher but should be treated as advanced research training. At a time when evidence-based nursing practice is increasingly being emphasised, there should be an even greater drive to increase the number of nurses completing doctorates. Leslie Gelling is reader in research ethics at the Faculty of Health and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
July 2014 | Volume 21 | Number 6
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Oct 27, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
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