Research and development leadership in nursing across the UK: A longitudinal study

a poster presentation for the RCN 2009 annual international nursing research conference

Author: Dave O'Carroll, Research & Innovation Team, Royal College of Nursing, UK. Co-author: Ann McMahon

Poster: Research and development leadership in nursing across the UK: A longitudinal study (PDF, 904KB)

Abstract:

The numbers of nurses and midwives holding Professorial positions in the UK may serve as a proxy indictor of the development of nursing research leadership within the professions, particularly when compared with cognate professional groups. Consequently, the academic community was surveyed in 2003 and then again in 2005 (O’Carroll, D., & McMahon, A., 2006). The 2003 survey provided a baseline assessment against which progress was measured in 2005. Following a query about the diversity of the Professorial community within nursing and midwifery in the UK the survey was repeated in 2008 and on this occasion, the questionnaire was developed to address this query. Two new questions on gender and ethnicity were incorporated within the questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent by email to all nurses and midwives known to hold a chair in the UK, whose details were held on a central database within the RCN (n=203). A reminder email was sent to nonrespondents 3 weeks after the first communication. The survey was conducted between September – October 2008 and a 75% response was achieved. Responses were benchmarked against the two previous surveys and geographical distribution and migration charted. Funding arrangements were analysed as a proxy indicator of the development of clinical-academic leadership positions.

This poster will provide a comparative longitudinal analysis of the numbers of Professors of nursing and midwifery identified in 2008 against those identified in 2005 and 2003. It will discuss these findings within the context of recent research policy initiatives to develop research capability, implement clinical academic career pathways (UKCRC 2007) and to assess the quality of research outputs (RAE 2008) within the nursing and midwifery professions across the UK. In addition, the numbers of nursing and midwifery chairs and the diversity of this leadership group will be considered within the wider context of the nursing and midwifery professions at large.