Evaluating the Role of Nursing Research in Driving Policy Changes in Healthcare Institutions
Posted: Jan 18, 2022
Abstract
This comprehensive study investigates the transformative impact of nursing research on healthcare policy development and implementation across diverse institutional settings. While nursing research has traditionally focused on clinical outcomes and patient care methodologies, its role as a catalyst for systemic policy change remains underexplored. Our mixed-methods approach combines quantitative analysis of policy adoption patterns with qualitative examination of research-to-policy translation mechanisms across 42 healthcare institutions over a five-year period. We developed a novel Policy Impact Framework that assesses nursing research influence across four dimensions: evidence credibility, stakeholder engagement, institutional readiness, and implementation feasibility. Our findings reveal that nursing research drives policy changes most effectively when researchers employ strategic knowledge translation approaches, engage multidisciplinary stakeholders early in the research process, and align findings with institutional priorities. The study identifies critical success factors including sustained researcher-policymaker partnerships, contextual adaptation of research evidence, and organizational cultures that value evidence-informed decision-making. We also uncover significant barriers to research utilization in policy, including temporal misalignment between research timelines and policy windows, limited research accessibility for decision-makers, and institutional resistance to change. This research contributes original insights by demonstrating how nursing research can systematically influence healthcare policy beyond traditional clinical practice guidelines, offering practical strategies for enhancing research impact and bridging the persistent gap between nursing science and health policy development.
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