Paper
Saturday, July 24, 2004
This presentation is part of : Setting a Research Agenda
Building International Research Networks
Lynda Tyer-Viola, RNC, N/A, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Learning Objective #1: Describe the four patterns of knowing as they relate to creating an international research collaboration
Learning Objective #2: Describe the process of maximizing the key elements of the four patterns as support for sustaining international research
Purpose: Building international nursing knowledge is one of the cornerstones of affirming nursing as a discipline. International research though has been difficult to sustain due to perceived incompatibility of practice environments, healthcare systems and research initiatives. The commitment of nurse researchers to engage international colleagues on issues which are salient to nursing practice will add value in all practice settings, promote interprofessional sharing and enhance the contribution to nursing knowledge.

Framework: The commonalties of the nursing profession are the four ways of knowing defined by Carper (1978): empirics, ethics, aesthetics and self. Using this framework, an international research agenda can be established. Within each pattern are commonalities as well as distinctions that, once navigated, will strengthen the process. Knowledge of culturally defined warrantable evidence, the purpose and function of the respective Ethic’s Committee reviews, the perceptions of nursing as science, and the image or position of nursing within respective cultures are all key facets to establishing a research network.

Application: An example of such a research initiative has been created with two National Health Trust Maternity Services and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston Massachusetts. By sharing practice experiences and exploring the four patterns of knowing, a research project to describe the phenomenon of Care of Pregnant Women with HIV is being established.

Back to Setting a Research Agenda
Back to 15th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004