Description/Overview: Advances in technology have made tremendous strides in the treatment of complex health problems. For example, rapid non-invasive HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing has made it possible to provide point of care testing for many at-risk populations; and new imaging techniques have made minimally invasive treatments possible. Collaboration between engineering and nursing is emerging as an important direction of nursing research that can help facilitate the translation of knowledge to practice using improved technology designed in collaboration with nursing. The purpose of this symposium is to explore the spectrum of methodological issues and practical application encountered by four nurse researchers engaged in interdisciplinary research with engineers as a way to ask new questions and generate new nursing knowledge. Using examples from four nursing research studies that were done in collaboration with electrical, computer and bio-medical engineering; issues will be discussed such as navigating different paradigmatic views, negotiating communication styles, the merging of differing skill sets, and the nurturing of mutual respect for each other’s professional experience and knowledge. Merging knowledge generated from different disciplines, while complex, offers exciting new opportunities for nursing to ask new questions and to revisit old conundrums. These four research studies that collaborated with engineers illustrate the creation and use of technology to improve direct patient care, change clinical practice, offer new ways to measure phenomena for nursing research. Collaboration with engineers to develop new research methods and technologies to solve significant health concerns will be essential in future healthcare innovations. Creating and using new technology offers nurse researchers a unique opportunity to ask and answer questions that can affect how nurses care for patients in a time-effective and cost-efficient manner. Exploring the spectrum of methodological issues and practical applications involved in this work will help guide nurse researchers through the process.

Learner Objective #1: describe how paradigmatic differences influence multidisiplinary teams

Learner Objective #2: list tips for negotiating communication styles and differing skill sets