Community Nursing Research - Current PhD Studies

Researcher name
Judith Carrier, Cardiff University

Supervisors
Professor Davina Allen, Cardiff University
Professor Anne Williams, Cardiff University

PhD study title
The social organisation of practice nurses' knowledge utilisation-an ethnographic study.

Summary
Little is known about the utilisation of evidence to inform nursing practice in primary care. The aim of this study is to explore if, when and, importantly, how practice nurses utilise evidence-based guidelines when making clinical decisions in practice. A surfeit of clinical guidelines is available in primary care, including interactive online tools.

The study investigates whether practice nurses utilise these guidelines to inform their clinical practice and in what context. A number of questions have been addressed, including the following: if guidelines are not used -why not? What impact do organisational and cultural issues have on evidence utilisation?

How does context affect the ways in which evidence informs practice? Do practice nurses actively engage with research evidence or do they rely on previous experience and knowledgeable colleagues?

At a time when knowledge management is seen as a core function of the NHS, understanding how nurses both access and integrate knowledge into their clinical practice is essential. This in-depth observational study of practice nurses in the clinical environment contributes to the understanding of knowledge mobilisation in the primary care environment.

Award date
2013

Thesis
Carrier, J. 2014. The social organisation of practice nurses' knowledge utilisation-an ethnographic study. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.