'How do nurses and midwives gain their research skills in relation to: understanding research and applying research findings to' practice?'

This study explores how nurses/midwives gain their research skills (defined as understanding research and applying research findings to practice) by looking at reading practices, formal research courses and participation in research. The study was undertaken in three phases, the first phase - an enquiry audit, the second phase - a survey and the final phase - interviews and focus groups. The initial part of the study was undertaken in the form of an enquiry audit to explore the developmental stages that nursing and midwifery research had taken between 1980 - 1995 and whether in 1999 these changes were continuing. This phase revealed that the professional influences and practice changes in nursing and midwifery were reflected in the research of this period. It also confirmed that a substantial percentage of authors were either professorial or senior nurse/midwives, not practice based staff. The number of studies increased significantly with the transference of professional education into higher education. The recognition of evidence-based care in nursing and midwifery became evident. The written style of research papers changed under the influence of academia. In conclusion it could be seen that published research during this period had progressed through several developmental stages. The enquiry audit results produced a framework for the second phase; in that it highlighted the need for all nurses and midwives to develop skills to both understand research and apply the findings to practice. This resulted in the construction of a survey to discover how nurses/midwives gained these research skills. The survey was conducted over a three-year period. It considered the research skills of nurses/midwives entering the profession who qualified through certificate, diploma or degree courses. The results showed that the majority of nurses/midwives do not actively read. Formal research courses enable knowledge to be gained but not retained, because the skills acquired frequently were not used in practice, so over time they were lost. Participation in research in the clinical areas was limited, and more often it was restricted to one facet such as handing out questionnaires or collecting data This did not enable the complete understanding of the research process. The degree/diploma results were marginally better than the results of the certificated nurses/midwives. Many barriers to the understanding of research were cited and likewise in relation to the implementation of research, for example the resistance of using new research in practice, lack of support by senior managers, and medical staff considering research was not nurses/midwives territory. The final phase was designed to establish whether the findings in the survey could be supported. The first part of phase three used interviews these results were then compared to the survey results, endorsing those results. Then the focus groups considered the same questions. The results from the focus groups reinforced and confinned the previous findings. The recommendations from the study are firstly that all students completing a first degree or higher degree should undertake a research module. Research modules should become more interactive enabling a deeper understanding of the process and application of research. Through this experiential learning it would be expected that the research skills would be retained for a longer period. Secondly to establish within a Trust or group of Trusts Nursing and Midwifery Research Units, to enhance the role of nursing and midwifery research. It would be anticipated that the research nurses/midwives together with the consultant nurses/rnidwive,s would become actively engaged in research initiatives within the clinical areas. Finally, and vitally important is to construct collaborative and meaningful partnerships between Universities and NHS Research Units to support and develop new initiatives

Can distance learning become an affective mode of delivery?

The term blended learning is becoming more prevalent in the fields of Health and Social Sciences. Although it tends to be synonymous with e-learning; this should not be the case as blended learning involves an integrated delivery strategy. Rossett et al. (2003) suggest that this could include interaction with a supervisor; participation in an online class; breakfast with colleagues; competency descriptions; reading on the beach; reference to a manual; collegial relationships; and participation in seminars, workshops, and online communities. This paper will attempt to explore whether the integration of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to a traditionally taught masters programme through the development of a blended learning strategy, can facilitate its evolution to distance learning

VLE segregation or integration? how should distance learning be taught and modes be treated?

In 2007, the MSc Public Health course at the University of Bedfordshire developed and launched a distance learning mode as an alternative to its existing 'taught' (classroom-based) mode of learning. Part of the rationale for its conception was the growing number of international students registering for the course. Also, a number of overseas governments and employers had been keen to support their staff to undertake the MSc Public Health but were unable to meet the travel and living costs in the UK. Initially, 10 distance learning students registered. Today, the course has 30 distance learning students. With the number of distance learning students likely to continue to grow, and distance learning becoming more prominent within the education sector (Allen and Seaman, 2008), a key issue to address is whether to segregate distance learning students into one, distance-learning exclusive Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)-based community, or to combine both sets of students into one, integrative VLE-based community. In order to explore this issue, this paper will introduce some of the key concepts and then describe how distance learners and taught students currently access and interact with their learning material on the course. It will then critically appraise some of the key pedagogical and practical considerations associated with VLE segregation/integration

Role of Primary Health Care in Ensuring Access to Medicines

To examine ways of ensuring access to health services within the framework of primary health care (PHC), since the goal of PHC to make universal health care available to all people has become increasingly neglected amid emerging themes of globalization, trade, and foreign policy. From a public health point of view, we argue that the premise of PHC can unlock barriers to health care services and contribute greatly to determining collective health through the promotion of universal basic health services. PHC has the most sophisticated and organized infrastructure, theories, and political principles, with which it can deal adequately with the issues of inequity, inequality, and social injustice which emerge from negative economic externalities and neo-liberal economic policies. Addressing these issues, especially the complex social and political influences that restrict access to medicines, may require the integration of different health initiatives into PHC. Based on current systems, PHC remains the only conventional health delivery service that can deal with resilient public health problems adequately. However, to strengthen its ability to do so, we propose the revitalization of PHC to incorporate scholarship that promotes human rights, partnerships, research and development, advocacy, and national drug policies. The concept of PHC can improve access; however, this will require the urgent interplay among theoretical, practical, political, and sociological influences arising from the economic, social, and political determinants of ill health in an era of globalization