Research in nursing

With the employment of a senior researcher in nursing care as of 1 November 2008, Steno Diabetes Center has successfully established a research tradition. A strategy has been developed for clinical research into nursing care for the period 2009–14. The responsibility for the research and for the overall implementation of the strategy lies with the senior researcher, whose position forms part of the staff function under the hospital management. The senior researcher performs duties in close cooperation with the clinical head nurse and the managing head nurse. A number of nurses active within research are involved in the various research projects.

Vision
Nursing care research will contribute to generating new knowledge about how patients react to their illness and how they deal with it on an everyday level. This knowledge is useful in the personalised care of those with diabetes to optimise their possibilities of living a good life with the disease.

Aim
The aim is to establish traditions for thorough, cohesive research, resulting in the development of new theories concerning practice and to develop applicable methods to be used in practice. Thus the research aims to improve the interaction between the individual patient and the health-care professionals in clinical practice.

The integration of research, development and practice and the retention of research expertise are ensured through the cohesion of the strategies for research, education and organisation of the nursing care.
The research strategy is in line with the Activity Plan for Research into Health for 2009 in the Capital Region of Denmark. It is also in line with the Danish Nurses’ Organization’s “National Strategy for Nursing Research 2005–2010”, which means that more nurses in Steno must take up research on a graduate, post-graduate or PhD. level. This has led to Steno’s strategy for education in nursing care and is seen as a means to recruit and retain both skilled clinical nurses and nurses who are interested in research.

Nursing care research and development can be conducted individually, on an interdisciplinary basis or in cooperation with other areas within Steno Diabetes Center, e.g., the Steno Health Promotion Center. Cooperation with external partners, both national and international, is currently being established.
The aim is for nursing care research to be applicable both nationally and internationally.