Comparative International Nursing Research
International Nursing Research
International nursing research represents comparative research on nursing phenomena and on nursing issues conducted in more than one country. This includes research that is conducted cross nationally to examine issues of global interest to nurses and to test and develop theories.
The research is usually conducted by a nurse
who resides in one country and studies phenomena in another country. The
purpose is to compare the findings with the results of similar research
obtained in other countries. Such research provides opportunities to clarify
scientific values, explore assumptions, and develop shared frameworks.
Effect of Communication on Nursing Research
International research in nursing is growing with the increased opportunities for travel, networking, and collaboration. The increasing abilities of nurses to study abroad, to attend international conferences, to visit international institutions, and to communicate through electronic mail systems, enhance comparative and collaborative research projects.
International scholarship has focused on the use of US nursing theories and the evaluation and testing of their utilities and appropriateness to the different nursing cultures. There are many descriptive and analytical dialogues related to theory in the international literature.
These dialogues have resulted in scholarly
publications related to the introduction and analysis of US theories in many
countries.
Nursing Shortage and their Distribution in Community Setup
Human resources analyzes and investigations led to several international projects. Questions related to the image and status of nursing, shortage of nurses, and distributions of nurses in urban and rural settings were examined.
The results were compared and contrasted among and between countries and regions. There is general agreement among researchers in many countries on the perception of nursing and the difficulty in recruitment of students and retention of nurses in the workforce.
Nursing Migration for Job
There
are commonalities in nurses' reasons for leaving the countries and seeking
employment in other countries or regions. Nurses migrate to seek better job
opportunities, to secure a better future for their children, to improve their
skills, and to complete their graduate education.
Nursing and Community Culture
Other research areas that received the attention of international nurses were the caring practices of nurses and the relationship between nurses' cultural heritage and language and patients' cultural heritage and their primary language of communication.
There is beginning evidence that nurses of
multicultural heritage who speak more than one language tend to provide more
culturally competent care.
Other areas of comparative and collaborative research were focused on women's health and quality of life. Questions about women's health were considered within a sociopolitical context, with attention to health and health care in the overall development of women through better options, more education, and higher status.
Other research examples were in ethical and clinical decision making, pain
management, and the management of the care of the elderly.
Focus of International Nursing Research
Future
international research requires the development of culturally competent
methods, analysis of ethical issues in conducting collaborative international
research, development of guidelines for international collaboration, and a
framework for decisions related to data ownership, authorship, and culturally sensitive
rules for data dissemination.
The International Council of Nursing, in collaboration with the US Institute for Nursing Research, developed a list of priorities for international research, which addressed the urgency for preparing researchers internationally and providing international strategies to support nursing research.
A future direction for priorities in substantive research questions has to be identified to enhance international collaboration and provide nurses with shared goals.
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