Promoting Academic-Practice Partnerships: The Delphi Way

Promoting academic-practice partnerships has become a reality for faculty members from neighboring schools of nursing who collaborate with clinical nurses through the Nursing Research Council of an academic medical center. One of the priorities of the research council was to identify clinical nursing research priorities with all levels of nurses at the academic medical center. This led to a study involving the Delphi technique, a method for consensus building. The Delphi technique includes rounds of surveys given to a select group to narrow a focus and build consensus on a topic. Members of the Nursing Research Council, including faculty from two schools of nursing, the Director of Nursing Clinical Programs/Research and clinical nurse specialists from the academic medical center conducted the study that involved three rounds of surveys. Both qualitative and quantitative methods utilized during the surveys provided feedback and consensus on seventeen themes/topics that emerged. The engagement of participants led to identification and ranking of the top five priorities: safety, communication, accountability, technology and workplace environment. Specific use of the Delphi method and results were shared with members of the Nursing Research Council who developed potential and actual researchable questions. The Nursing Research Council used the results to integrate a search of current evidence on the priorities that led to numerous questions upon which to focus their research efforts. The Delphi methodology is a practical, structured approach, easily replicated, as a means of reaching agreement from all levels of nursing staff in a clinical institution.  The collaboration between nursing faculty who assisted in the research process and nursing personnel partners and participants served to strengthen application of the study findings. The nursing research agenda is based upon the priorities at the academic medical center where the clinical nurses are using them to launch evidence based practice and research projects.