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Background: Web of Science and Scopus are the leading databases of scholarly impact. Recent studies outside the field of nursing report differences in journal coverage and quality., Purpose: A comparative analysis of nursing publications reported impact., Method: Journal coverage by each database for the field of nursing was compared. Additionally, publications by 2014 nursing faculty were collected in both databases and compared for overall coverage and reported quality, as modeled by Scimajo Journal Rank, peer review status, and MEDLINE inclusion. Individual author impact, modeled by the h-index, was calculated by each database for comparison., Discussion: Scopus offered significantly higher journal coverage. For 2014 faculty publications, 100% of journals were found in Scopus, Web of Science offered 82%. No significant difference was found in the quality of reported journals. Author h-index was found to be higher in Scopus., Conclusion: When reporting faculty publications and scholarly impact, academic nursing programs may be better represented by Scopus, without compromising journal quality. Programs with strong interdisciplinary work should examine all areas of strength to ensure appropriate coverage., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Senior nursing leaders from the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Nursing and UK HealthCare have explored the meaning of an authentic partnership. This article quantifies the tangible benefits and outcomes from this maturing academic nursing and clinical practice partnership. Benefits include inaugural academic nursing participation in health system governance, expanded integration of nursing research programs both in the college and in the health science center, and the development of collaborative strategies to address nursing workforce needs.

Background: The number of systematic reviews (SRs) of nursing interventions is increasing in China. Authors of such studies are encouraged to use a risk of bias tool for assessing individual studies. Therefore, it is important to know how these tools have been applied in SRs in Chinese nursing., Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine risk of bias tools used by Chinese nursing researchers to assess the quality of individual studies included in SRs of nursing interventions., Methods: We searched the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese Journal Full-Text Database, Chinese Academic Journal Full-Text Database, and Wanfang Database. Each relevant review found was subjected to quality assessment, data synthesis, and comprehensively described., Discussion: Two hundred eight SRs were identified, most (94.7%) of which used the words "systematic review" or "meta-analysis" in their titles. Most used quality assessment rather than risk of bias as their major method to gauge quality; 7.6% reported on six domains of the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Only four provided a risk of bias graph/summary figure., Conclusions: Many SRs of nursing interventions are published in Chinese journals, and their assessment of risk of bias is usually either lacking or incomplete, potentially producing misleading results. This may also be the case in other countries. Assessment of risk of bias in SRs is a requisite. Authors who systematically review nursing literature should follow the latest Cochrane Collaboration Handbook., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Meta-analysis is often regarded as one of the best sources of evidence for clinical nurses due to its rigorous design and scientific reflection of the true results of nursing interventions. The quality of a meta-analysis is critical to the work of clinical decision-makers. Therefore, the objective of this study was to use the JBI guidelines to summarize the quality of RCT-based meta-analyses of reports published in domestic nursing professional journals, with a view to standardizing the research process and reporting methods., Methods: We performed a comprehensive literature search for RCT-based meta-analyses published in Chinese professional nursing journals, from their inception to December 31, 2015, using bibliographic databases (e.g. CNKI, WanFang Database). March 1, 2017, supplementary search 2016 literature. Candidate reviews were assessed for inclusion by two independent reviewers using pre-specified eligibility criteria. We evaluated the quality of reporting of the included meta-analyses using the systematic review literature reporting specification of JBI. Analyses were performed using Excel and STATA 12.0 software., Results: Three hundred and twenty-two meta-analyses were included. According to the JBI guidelines, the overall quality of the meta-analysis report was poor. The quality of core journal reports and the implementation of retrieval were better than those of non-core journals. The nature of the authors and the availability of funding support had no significant impact on the quality of the meta-analyses. Multi-unit and multi-author collaboration can help improve the quality of meta-analyses with significant impact., Conclusion: The understanding and implementation of systematic evaluation and meta-analyses in domestic nursing professional journals is worthy of recognition, and there is more work that can be done to improve the quality of these reports. Systematic review / Meta-analysis (SR / MA) makers should include the findings of this study. Multi-institutional and multi-author collaborations appear to improve research capacity and provide more reliable evidence support for clinicians.

In this article, we describe our approach and philosophical methodology of teaching and doing phenomenology. The human science seminar that we offer involves participants in the primary phenomenological literature as well as in a variety of carefully engaged writing exercises. Each seminar participant selects a personal phenomenological project that aims at producing a publishable research paper. We show how the qualitative methodology of hermeneutic phenomenology requires of its practitioner a sensitivity and attitudinal disposition that has to be internalized and that cannot be captured in a procedural or step-by-step program. Our experience is that seminar participants become highly motivated and committed to their phenomenological project while involved in the rather intense progression of lectures, workshop activities, readings, and discussions.

Objective: The objective of this descriptive qualitative study was to identify best practices of nursing research councils (NRCs) at Magnet®-designated hospitals., Background: Nursing research (NR) is essential, adding to the body of nursing knowledge. Applying NR to the bedside improves care, enhances patient safety, and is an imperative for nursing leaders., Methods: We interviewed NR designees at 26 Magnet-recognized hospitals about the structure and function of their NRCs and used structural coding to identify best practices., Results: Most organizations link NR and evidence-based practice. Council membership includes leadership and clinical nurses. Councils conduct scientific reviews for nursing studies, supporting nurse principal investigators. Tracking and reporting of NR vary widely and are challenging. Councils provide education, sponsor research days, and collaborate interprofessionally, including with academic partners., Conclusions: Findings from this study demonstrate the need to create formal processes to track and report NR and to develop outcome-focused NR education.

Undertaking philosophically hermeneutic research requires embodying the fundamental hermeneutic notions espoused by Heidegger, Gadamer, and other related philosophers. For both supervisors and students, there is "a way" of working that infuses a hermeneutic project with a particular kind of contemplative openness. In this article, I will draw from my own experience of coming to appreciate the nature of this approach. Reading Gadamer challenged me to see that, before interpreting the meanings inherent in research data, I first needed to grapple with the fact that I brought ready-made prejudices to the interpretation. Further, and perhaps more importantly, was the recognition that while prejudices may have a negative influence, they could also bring a positive view. Just as I needed to understand key Gadamerian notions to shed light on the interpretive nature of philosophical hermeneutics, I will unpack these to underpin the ongoing discussion of hermeneutic research strategies. In articulating "how" to be hermeneutic, I explain how I guide students embarking on hermeneutic research. Discussion centres on surfacing and engaging with preunderstandings through 'presuppositions interviewing', journalling and the careful selection of words that refine and crystallise meanings in ways that reflectively and reflexively engage and expand horizons of understanding. In this article, I use examples from my own experience as a doctoral student and supervisor of doctoral students to assist other supervisors and students understand both the importance of "being hermeneutic" and ways of achieving robust and philosophically congruent hermeneutic research.

Specialty certification is an important method to demonstrate that RNs possess advanced training, knowledge, and competencies required to provide safe, high-quality care for specific populations.

: This is the third in a series of articles to help nurses share their knowledge, skills, and insight through writing for publication. Nurses have something important to contribute no matter what their nursing role. This series will help nurses develop good writing habits and sharpen their writing skills. It will take nurses step by step through the publication process, highlighting what gets published and why, how to submit articles and work with editors, and common pitfalls to avoid. For the previous articles in this series, see http://bit.ly/2lhnYKJ.

Background: Open access is a relatively new phenomenon within nursing science., Objectives: Several papers from various nursing journals have been published recently on the disadvantages of the traditional model of purchasing proprietary fee-based databases to access scholarly information. Just few nursing scholars are less optimistic about the possible benefits of open access nursing journals., Design and Methods: A critical reflection on the merits and pitfalls of open access journals along insights from the literature and personal opinion. Two arguments are discussed, providing justification for tempering enthusiasm about open access journals., Results: First, only research groups with sufficient financial resources can publish in open access journals. Second, open access has conflicting incentives, where the aim is to expand production at the expense of publishing quality articles; a business model that fits well into a neoliberal discourse., Conclusion: There are valid reasons to criticise the traditional publishers for the excessive costs of a single article, therefore preventing the dissemination of scholarly nursing information. On the contrary, the business model of open access publishers is no less imbued with the neoliberal tendency of lining the pockets.

: This is the second in a series of articles to help nurses share their knowledge, skills, and insight through writing for publication. Nurses have something important to contribute no matter what their nursing role. This series will help nurses develop good writing habits and sharpen their writing skills. It will take nurses step by step through the publication process, highlighting what gets published and why, how to submit articles and work with editors, and common pitfalls to avoid. For the previous article in this series, see http://bit.ly/2lhnYKJ.

Aim: To review and discuss the ethical and practical considerations about paying patient and caregiver participants in nursing research and, based on this review, to develop a set of guiding principles about payment of participants., Background: To increase recruitment and retention, it is becoming increasingly common in nursing research to provide some form of payment to participants. The risk is that the promise of a payment may influence a patient or caregiver's decision to participate in research. However, research ethics protocols seldom provide explicit guidance about paying participants. Even where formal policies or fee schedules exist, there is little consistency in determining how payments should be calculated or administered. This has resulted in highly variable payment practices between locations, disciplines and institutions., Design: Discussion paper., Data Sources: PubMed, MEDLINE with Full Text, CINAHL and Health Source (Nursing/Academic Edition) were searched for terms related to paying research participants published between 2000 - August 2016., Implications for Nursing: Nurse researchers must comply with international, national and institutional ethical standards. Important ethical and practical considerations should guide the decision-making process about whether to pay research participants and how to determine the nature or value of the payment. Guiding principles can support researchers by highlighting key factors that may direct their decision-making in this regard., Conclusion: A deeper understanding of the fundamental ethical and practical considerations is needed to support researchers in their deliberations about paying participants in nursing research., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The aim of this study was to assess the quality of reporting of nurse-driven randomized controlled trials involving a direct nutritional intervention. A bibliometric search for randomized controlled trials involving a direct nutritional intervention from 1991 to 2011 in nursing research was conducted. Both quality of the study and design aspects were evaluated. The prevalent randomized controlled trial design used is 2-arm parallel, individual, and randomized with a continuous primary endpoint. Global numbers of randomized controlled trials and the proportion of good-quality randomized controlled trials began a steady and marked rise, more than doubling, from the 1990s to about 2001 and increased slowly thereafter. Studies are overall sufficiently well designed, although there is still room for quality improvement. Additionally, implementation of new randomized controlled trial designs exists and should be advocated.

A highly visible transition occurred earlier this year with the retirement of Pam Thompson, MS, RN, CENP, FAAN, from her role as CEO of the American Organization of Nurse Executives. Ms Thompson was always an advocate of promoting the voice of nursing. This month, the spotlight will shine on a team of nurse leaders who found their voice, got involved, and led the conversation. We will trace their journey as they analyzed their situation, applied the evidence, and used their seat at the table.

The primary goal of the thousands of registered trials in cancer research is to extend survival. With evaluation of efficacy, safety, and tolerability, healthcare providers must ensure that the principles described in the Belmont Report are upheld and that patients are truly informed when signing a consent form. In this article, two cases are highlighted, and reasons for participating in clinical trials are discussed. Challenges, such as healthcare literacy, patients' dedication to their healthcare providers, and choosing between multiple trials, are also explored.

Aim: To describe a research protocol designed to promote nutritional self-care in older people. The aims of the research are: a) to evaluate the effectiveness of a nutritional education intervention in changing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors; b) to describe the nutritional self-care ability and activities; c) to identify the promoting factors and barriers that influence the changes in nutritional knowledge, behaviors and attitudes in home-dwelling older people., Method: Sequential explanatory mixed method design. The study will enroll 50 people aged 65 years and over. In the first quantitative phase, a pre-test and post-test design will be used to deliver a nutritional intervention aimed to change knowledge, behaviors and attitudes toward nutrition. Using the quantitative study results, the qualitative study phase will be conducted by interviews in sub-groups of older people. In a third phase, the quantitative and qualitative study results will be integrated. Quantitative data will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and qualitative data will be analyzed through content analysis., Results: The study will provide new knowledge on nutritional self-care in home-dwelling older adults and the factors promoting nutritional self-care., Conclusions: Nutritional self-care promotion is of pivotal importance for the nursing care provided to home-dwelling older people. Educational programs aimed at the maintenance of proper nutrition in the older adults may reduce malnutrition and the related diseases. Nutrition educational programs should be based on knowledge derived from research to tailor individualized nutritional interventions and to realize effective educational programs.

New Brunswick became the first province in Canada to require a baccalaureate degree in nursing as the entry to practice, yet nursing research in hospital settings remains quite low. This study examined clinical nurses' views on nursing research, and identified some contributing factors to the research-practice gap. This descriptive, cross-sectional multicenter study involved 1081 nurses working in the Francophone Regional Health Authority in New Brunswick, Canada. Nurses were eager to identify nursing-care problems to improve patient care (92.9%), and to be involved in collecting data for nursing research studies (95.2%). However, without research supervision, few had engaged in basic research activities, such as formulating or refining research questions (24.5%), presenting at research conferences (6.9%), or changing their practice based on research findings (27.2%). Younger, more educated nurses, nurse managers, and educators participated more readily in research. Sharing research and clinical expertise, as well as infrastructures between academic and clinical institutions is the key to enduring successful patient-centered nursing research in clinical settings. Concrete actions are proposed to build clinical nursing research., (© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

This article reports the findings of a study that examined the research and scholarship productivity of doctorally prepared nursing faculty teaching and mentoring doctoral students and the conflicting demands on them to maintain programs of research and scholarship. The specific aims were to (a) examine the research productivity and scholarship of faculty members teaching in doctoral programs and mentoring doctoral students to examine the perceived effectiveness of existing institutional mechanisms to support scholarship, (b) explore institutional features and personal practices used by doctoral program faculty to develop and maintain research and scholarship productivity, and (c) analyze predictors of scholarship productivity. Data were collected via an on-line researcher-developed survey that examined doctoral faculty roles/responsibilities and their relationship to their scholarly productivity, overall research productivity, and institutional features and personal practices to support research/scholarship activities. Survey respondents reported spending a large amount of time engaged in research-related activities with 58.9% (n = 326) spending anywhere from 6 to 20 hours per week conducting research, writing research-based papers, giving presentations, grant writing, or conducting evidence-based improvement projects. Scholar productivity among the respondents was robust. Personal practices that most strongly supported faculty members' scholarship productivity were the belief that engaging in scholarship made them better teachers and the personal gratification in experiencing doctoral students' successes. A multiple regression analysis conducted to determine predictors of productivity indicated that the strongest predictor was the average number of hours spent on research/scholarship-related activities, followed by time bought out from teaching and other responsibilities of the faculty role for research., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Conceptual Foundations is a new column for Oncology Nursing Forum that focuses on the frameworks that underpin research and practice initiatives. The purpose of this inaugural column is to provide an overview of what conceptual frameworks are, related terms, the role of conceptual frameworks in the research process, and why these frameworks matter.

Defining successful research can be complex. For novice researchers, success may involve completing research projects and publishing in peer-reviewed journals, but for experienced researchers more complex measures of success come into play. Each researcher's reputation, future grant funding and career prospects depend on the success of each project, and the quality of the researcher's track record.

Meeting the Magnet Recognition Program® requirements for integrating research into practice can be daunting, particularly for nonacademic hospitals. The authors describe 1 healthcare system's approach to advancing nursing research in 5 hospitals through collaboration with a local university school of nursing and development of an infrastructure to support, empower, and mentor clinical nurses in the conduct of research. Outcomes include completed research, presentations, publications, practice change, and professional development.

Objective: The aim of this study was to present an instrument and comparative database designed to evaluate patients' perceptions of caring behaviors of caregivers., Background: Acute care leaders are under pressure to improve publicly reported patient satisfaction scores. Some nurse leaders have implemented professional practice environments based on human caring theory, whereas others have used scripting to standardize communication between staff and patients., Methods: The Watson Caritas Patient Score (WCPS) is collected quarterly from a random sample of patients who are admitted to acute care hospital units., Results: The WCPS was able to discriminate across unit types and hospitals. Items were related to publicly reported nursing communication scores., Conclusions: Participation in research based on human caring theory has given nurse leaders the opportunity to evaluate effectiveness of professional practice environments. It may provide the opportunity to focus staff communication with patients more authentically and in a way that enriches the experience for both.

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH is a systematic approach to investigating numerical data and involves measuring or counting attributes, that is quantities. Through a process of transforming information that is collected or observed, the researcher can often describes a situation or event, answering the 'what' and 'how many' questions about a situation ( Parahoo 2014 ).

Building the science for nursing practice has never been more important. However, shrunken federal and state research budgets mean that investigators must find alternative sources of financial support and develop projects that are less costly to carry out. New investigators often build beginning programs of research with limited funding. This article provides an overview of some cost-effective research approaches and gives suggestions for finding other sources of funding. Examples of more cost-effective research approaches include adding complementary questions to existing funded research projects; conducting primary analysis of electronic patient records and social media content; conducting secondary analysis of data from completed studies; reviewing and synthesizing previously completed research; implementing community-based participatory research; participating in collaborative research efforts such as inter-campus team research, practice-based research networks (PBRNs), and involving undergraduate and doctoral students in research efforts. Instead of relying on funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other government agencies, nurse researchers may be able to find support for research from local sources such as businesses, organizations, or clinical agencies. Investigators will increasingly have to rely on these and other creative approaches to fund and implement their research programs if granting agency budgets do not significantly expand., (© The Author(s) 2015.)

The vice president of the Certification and Measurement Services for the American Nurses Credentialing Center presents this month's column focused on the value of certification for both the patient and the organization.

Summary: Mechanical ventilation and early weaning: a qualitative study on patient's experiences in an intensive care unit., Introduction: The weaning from mechanical ventilation of intensive care unit (ICU) patients may cause anxiety. The feelings and experience during this procedure may affect their physical and psychological wellbeing., Aim: To describe patients' feelings during intubation time and weaning., Method: Phenomenological study on 16 patients who underwent an off pump bypass and mechanical ventilation <24 hours. The patients were contacted 5-7 days after discharge from ICU., Results: The analysis of the interviews generated three issues arising from patients' experience: the discomfort mainly for the endotracheal tube, the fear of extubation and sense of safety for the presence of the nurse., Conclusions: Mechanical ventilation and weaning, in spite of the evolution of the anesthetic techniques, continue to generate unpleasant feelings.