A Delphi study of district nursing research priorities in Australia

Annells, Merilyn; DeRoche, Monique; Koch, Tina; Lewin, Gill; Lucke, Jayne

doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2004.04.004

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Volume 18, Issue 1 , Pages 36-43, February 2005

A Delphi study of district nursing research priorities in Australia

Merilyn Annells, PhD, MNSt, DipAppSc, RN, BN
- Postgraduate Clinical School of Community Nursing, La Trobe University, Royal District Nursing Service Helen Macpherson Institute of Community Health, St. Kilda, Victoria 3182, Australia
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 3 9536 5371; fax: +61 3 9537 0252.
Monique DeRoche, MN, RN, BAppSc
- Postgraduate Clinical School of Community Nursing, La Trobe University, Royal District Nursing Service Helen Macpherson Institute of Community Health, St. Kilda, Victoria 3182, Australia
Tina Koch, PhD, RN, BA (Hons)
- Royal District Nursing Service Research Unit, South Australia Incorporated, Glenside, PO Box 247, South Australia 5065, Australia
Gill Lewin, PhD, MPH, MSc, BSc (Hons)
- Research Department, Silver Chain, Osborne Park, Western Australia 6017, Australia
Jayne Lucke, PhD, BA (Hons)
- Research Coordination Department, Blue Care, Toowong, Queensland 4066, Australia

Received 7 November 2003; received in revised form 31 March 2004; accepted 12 April 2004.

Abstract

This study, using a Delphi approach, sought the opinion of a self-selected panel of 320 district nurses regarding research priorities for district nursing in Australia. Over three rounds of questionnaires, the 419 research clinical problem areas requiring research as suggested by the panel were each rated in importance by the panel and then ranked through analysis from high to low average rating scores, thereby, whittling down the list to the top 15% (68) research questions and to a final list of the top 10 research priorities overall. Research questions focusing on discharge planning are dominant in these top 10 priorities, with documentation issues the second most common focus. Other foci in the top 10 priorities are staffing, aged care, palliative care, and assessment. The organization-specific top 10 research priorities focus on wound care, funding, education, and communication issues. Additionally, the top 68 priorities, which are either finitely practice-based or contextual-issues research questions, were categorized into 20 themes. The results will hopefully lead to scarce human and financial resources being directed to practice-relevant research programs that will facilitate improved health for district nursing (primarily home-nursing) clients in Australia and elsewhere.