Cardiac Surgery Healthcare Professionals’ Engagement in Research at the Bedside: Challenges and Opportunities

This article is part of CTSNet’s Guest Editor Series, CONNECTING Patients, Clinicians, and Outstanding Cardiac Care Through Nursing and Allied Professional Research. Guest editors Jill Ley and Tara Bartley have curated a robust collection of content that shares the knowledge, techniques, and insights of several distinguished experts from around the world. 

The increased emphasis on evidence-based practice in healthcare has led to a move of hospital-based nurse education into higher education institutions. This has led to a need for a significant shift in focus on educational training from imparting research contents to providing opportunities to experience the research process.

Research was introduced in the nursing curriculum to increase awareness of research and capacity building to promote research output. Such strong emphasis on teaching and developing research in nursing programs was at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and is evident in many parts of the world. Within clinical practice, nurses' input in generating research evidence has also been encouraged by the introduction of advanced nurse practitioner roles. Despite these efforts to increase opportunities for research participation, there has been a general lack of research to guide practice. Complex organizational issues and lack of funding, protected time for research, and educational supports have been identified as specific challenges to the engagement in research at the bedside.

Strategies to promote engagement in research include mentorship; collaboration between researchers, academics, and clinicians; role modelling, facilitation, and support; increased awareness of supports for research engagement; cultivating a positive attitude toward research in the clinical environment; and securing time for clinicians to undertake research.

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