Background: As part of a nursing human resources planning study, one objective was to build the Atlantic Canada community of research in human resource planning by creating partnerships among stakeholder groups and to foster a collaborative approach to human resource planning. The stakeholder groups on the research team included researchers, policy makers, administrators, and clinicians.

Concept: Collaboration is considered the highest form of partnership and refers to the degree of sharing (consultative, contributory, operational, or collaborative) and the level of relationship development among partners (networking, cooperation or alliance, coordination, coalition, and collaboration).

Methods: Our strategies to promote strong collaborative partnerships included team processes, assessment of the collaboration by an external person, and analysis of individuals' reflections on the collaboration at three time points.

Results: As the 'research community' grew in expertise and collaboration over the 3-year study, the collaboration had major impact on the evolution of the study. The level of collaboration varied by stakeholder groups according to the activity and study phase. In terms of sharing, the team, as a whole, reached at least the operational level. Different stakeholder groups influenced decisions and understanding about the direction and design of the study, and the relevance of study results and implications for future work. Team relationships also varied, but overall reached the coalition and collaboration levels. Barriers and facilitators to collaboration emerged.

Implications: Research results that have the potential for application by policy-makers are dependent on collaboration among diverse members of the community of research. Building such a community requires focus, commitment and time.

Back to Posters II
Back to 15th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004