Bridging the Practice/Research Chasm

The literature repeatedly affirms that the time period for translating research findings into the practice arena requires approximately 17 years. Recent studies have identified the presence of a research mentor as the key to overcoming identified barriers to both generating clinically based evidence and incorporating that evidence into practice.  While widespread agreement that this time lag must be reduced is supported, substantive change on this issue has yet to occur -- despite repeated recommendations for increased collaboration between researchers and practitioners. Indeed, collaborations between academic and practice settings benefit both parties in fostering clinical nurses’ research skills, contributing to innovations in patient care and nursing practice and enriching nursing research. The Care Innovation and Transformation (CIT) initiative, which is a program sponsored by AONE, supports innovative change, culture evolution, and implementation of health care reform. Using the conceptual framework of Situational Approach to Leadership, this symposium provides examples of how the CIT concepts have successfully supported clinical nursing research teams in acute care settings. All examples include a description of the clinical problem addressed, the nature of the research team addressing the problem, the style of support employed within the collaborative role, and how the results of the project were used to inform practice changes.  This model provides a structure for clinical nurses in developing the skills and confidence to evaluate and implement evidence into the practice setting in a timely manner.