The combined effects of the evidence-based movement, the introduction of the NHS research and development programme and policies intended to modernise the management of knowledge within the National Health Service have heightened the force of the 'implementation impulse' in research. New and experimental ways are being sought to close the conjunction between research and practice. Nurses are the key 'interface' workers in healthcare, therefore the NHS needs to create a research-rich nursing culture if it is to influence the quality and outcomes of patient care. Much depends upon the policies crafted to build capacity in areas of need and the conditions under which the conduct and commissioning of research operate. Nursing has been exercised by perceived 'barriers' to successful implementation of research for more than a decade. But rarely have discussions on the research-practice gap been informed by insights from research policy literature. The aim of this paper is to bring the two together: to use the insights from the one to interrogate the other. We conclude that the research policy literature provides a context and critique within which the new policy organs managing evidence within the NHS might be evaluated.
Bartley, M. (1992) Authorities and Partisans. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press , pp 5-6.
2.
Bero, L. , Grilli, R. , Grimshaw, J (1998) Closing the gap between research and practice: An overview of systematic reviews of interventions to promote the implementation of research findings . British Medical Journal7156: 15, 465-468 .
3.
Berridge V. , Thom, B. (1994) The relationship between research and policy: Case studies from the postwar history of drugs and alcohol . Contemporary Drugs Problems. Winter, pp 599-629
4.
Berridge, V. (1996) Aids in the UK: The making of policy 1981-94. Oxford: Oxford University Press , 51-52.
5.
Bulmer, M. (1978) Social science research and policy-making in Britain. In: Bulmer, M. (ed) Social Policy Research. London: Macmillan , 3-43.
6.
Bulmer, M. (1982) The Uses of Social Research. London: Allen and Unwin .
7.
Bulmer, M. (1986) Social Science Research and Policy-making. London: Allen and Unwin .
8.
Callon, M. , Law, J. , Rip, A. (1986) Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology. Basingstoke: Macmillan .
9.
Closs J. , Cheater, F. (1994) Utilisation of nursing research: Culture, critical and support . Journal of Advanced Nursing19: 762-773 .
10.
Dufault M. , Wilson-Barnet J. , Corner, J.et al. (1995a) Integrating nursing research and practice. The role of the researcher as teacher . Journal of Advanced Nursing15: 621-625 .
11.
Dufault, M. , Bielecki, C. , Collins, E.et al. (1995b) Changing nurses' pain assessment practice: A collaborative research utilisation approach . Journal of Advanced Nursing21: 634-645 .
12.
Department of Health (1998) The New NHS: Modern, dependable. London: Department of Health .
13.
Funk S. , Champagne, M. , Wiese, R.et al. (1991) Barriers: The barriers to research utilisation scale . Applied Nursing Research4: 39-45 .
14.
Grint, K. , Woolgar, S. (1997) The Machine at Work: Technology, work and organisation. Cambridge: Polity .
15.
Hart, E. , Bond M. (1995)Action Research for Health and Social Care. A guide to practice. Buckingham: Open University Press .
16.
Hunt, J. (1996) Guest Editorial: Barriers to research utilisation . Journal of Advanced Nursing23: 423-425 .
17.
Hunt, M. (1987) The process of translating research findings into nursing practice . Journal of Advanced Nursing12: 101-110 .
18.
Kendrick, M. , Luker, K. (1996) An exploration of the influence of managerial factors on research utilisation in district nursing practice . Journal of Advanced Nursing23: 697-704 .
19.
Lathlean, J. (1992) The contribution of lecturer practitioners to theory and practice in nursing . Journal of Clinical Nursing1: 231-242 .
20.
Lathlean, J. (1995) The Implementation and Development of the Lecturer Practitioner in Nursing. DPhil. thesis, University of Oxford. Oxford: Ashdale Press.
21.
Latimer, J. (1995) The nursing process re-examined: Diffusion or translation?Journal of Advanced Nursing22: 213-220 .
22.
Latour, B. (1988a) The politics of explanation. In: Woolgar, S. Knowledge and Reflexivity: New frontiers in the sociology of knowledge. London: Sage .
23.
Latour, B. (1988b) The Pasteurisation of France. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
24.
Lomas, J. (1990) Finding audiences' changing beliefs: The structure of research use in Canadian health policy . Journal of Health Policy and Law15: 525-542 .
25.
Lomas, J. (1997) Improving Research Dissemination and Uptake in the Health Sector: Beyond the sound of one hand clapping. McMaster University, Paper C97/1. Ontario: Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis .
26.
Luker K. , Kendrick, M. (1992) An exploratory study of the sources of influence on the clinical decisions of community nurses . Journal of Advanced Nursing17: 457-466 .
27.
MacGuire, J. (1990) Putting research findings into practice . Journal of Advanced Nursing15: 614-620 .
28.
Manning, W. (1985) Social Problems and Welfare Ideology. Aldershot: Gower Books , 7.
29.
McSkimming, S. (1996) Creating a cultural norm for research and research utilisation in a clinical agency . Western Journal of Nursing Research18: 606-611 .
30.
Mowinski Jennings, B. (1988) Merging nursing research and practice: A case of multiple identities . Journal of Advanced Nursing13: 752-758 .
31.
Rafferty, A. M. (1993) Leading Questions in Nursing. London: King' s Fund .
32.
Rafferty, A.M. , Alcock, N. , Lathlean, J. (1996) The theory/practice gap. Taking issue with the issue . Journal of Advanced Nursing23: 685-691 .
33.
Richardson, J. , Jordan, A. (1979) Governing Under Pressure: The policy process in a post-parliamentary democracy. Oxford: Martin Robertson .
34.
Robinson J. , Elkan, R. (1989) Research for Policy and Policy for Research. Warwick: University of Warwick, Centre for Policy Studies in Nursing , p 32.
35.
Robinson, J. , Gray, A. , Elkan, R. (eds.) (1992) Policy Issues In Nursing. Milton Keynes: Open University Press .
36.
Rodgers, S. (1994) An exploratory study of research utilisation by nurses in general medical and surgical wards . Journal of Advanced Nursing20: 904-911 .
37.
Rogers, E. M (1983) Diffusion of Innovations. New York: The Free Press .
38.
Scott, E. (1994) The Influence of the Staff of the Ministry of Health On Policies for Nursing, 1919-1968. (Unpublished PhD thesis.) London: London School of Economics.
39.
Stevens, J. (1997) Improving integration between research and practice as a means of developing evidence-based health care . Nursing Times Research2:1, 7-15 .
40.
Strong, P. , Robinson, J. (1990) The NHS Under New Management. Buckingham: Open University Press .
41.
Tizard, B. (1990) Research and policy: Is there a link?The Psychologist10: 435-440 .
42.
Traynor, M. (1995) The Morale of the Community Nursing Workforce. A study of three NHS trusts. The managers' account. London: Daphne Heald Research Unit, Royal College of Nursing .
43.
Traynor, M. (1996) A literary approach to managerial discourse after the NHS reforms . Sociology of Health and Illness18:3, 315-340 .
44.
Traynor M. , Rafferty, A.M. (1997) The NHS R&D Context for Nursing Research. A working paper. London: Centre for Policy in Nursing Research, London School of Hygiene .
45.
Wagner, P. , Weiss, C. , Wittock, B.et al. (eds.) (1991) Social Sciences and Modern States: National experiences and theoretical crossroads. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , p 18.
46.
Walt, G. (1994) Health Policy: An introduction to process and power. London: Zed Books , p 80.
47.
Weiss C. , Bucuvalas, M. (1980) Social Science Research and Decision-making. New York: Columbia University Press , p 249.
48.
Weiss, C. (1986) The many meanings of research utilisation. In: Bulmer, M. (ed.) Social Science Research and Policy-making. London: Allen and Unwin .
49.
White, R (1986) The Effect of the Nursing Profession, 1948-1960. London: King's Fund; Oxford: Oxford University Press .
