{"title":"A grounded theory example of using focus groups to collect qualitative research data.","authors":"Adam Hughes, Diane Lamb","doi":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1967","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.2025.e1967","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Focus groups are a common way to collect qualitative research data, but they require a skilled approach to manage participants and elicit the required information.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To discuss the use of focus groups in the context of an example study that used a grounded theory approach.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This article explores some of the main practical issues when conducting focus groups, which can have significant impacts on the data collated and the final outcomes. They include ensuring a focus group is the most likely method of yielding the information required, how to conduct it and the lines of enquiry throughout.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Focus groups are effective tools, but their success relies on having a skilled moderator to elicit salient points that answer the research question. Technology can mitigate some of their logistical constraints as well, bringing together homogenous groups spread over large geographical areas.</p><p><strong>Implications for practice: </strong>Taking a structured approach when planning and conducting focus groups can yield high-quality data.</p>","PeriodicalId":47412,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Researcher","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144508844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An overview of integrated pilot work as a reflexive tool to enhance qualitative research.","authors":"Hélène Durocher","doi":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1962","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.2025.e1962","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Researchers often use pilot work (PW) to address potential problems that may affect the progress of their main study. However, the methodology of PW is not well documented for novice nurse researchers. This can be challenging for those who need to make decisions based on a range of opinions.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To provide an overview of using 'integrated pilot work' (IPW) as a reflexive tool to enhance qualitative nursing research.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This article discusses the role of PW in qualitative research, its added value and the debate surrounding it. It also introduces IPW - a new type of PW intended to be an integral part of a qualitative study's design and conduct, rather than preliminary work conducted before the study. The author describes how she used IPW in her doctoral study and presents four significant contributions to the study that highlight its effectiveness: it challenged the author's sampling and recruitment strategies; delimited the object she was studying; helped her to engage in conceptual reflection; and led her to understand better the research process in a doctoral study.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>IPW is an innovative approach that can make a valuable contribution to the rigour of qualitative research.</p><p><strong>Implications for practice: </strong>Qualitative researchers need to consider whether to use IPW, when they are planning and conducting a study.</p>","PeriodicalId":47412,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Researcher","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144276277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nurse ResearcherPub Date : 2025-06-11Epub Date: 2025-01-29DOI: 10.7748/nr.2025.e1949
Sarah Butler
{"title":"Understanding literature reviews: a guide for enhancing nursing practice globally.","authors":"Sarah Butler","doi":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1949","DOIUrl":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1949","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Literature reviews are essential in nursing for integrating research into practice, informing clinical guidelines and shaping health policy. They comprehensively synthesise the available evidence, supporting nurses in making informed decisions that improve patient care. It is therefore crucial when researchers are selecting the method most appropriate for investigating their clinical questions that they understand the different types of literature review.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To explore the characteristics, strengths and limitations of narrative, systematic and scoping reviews, as well as highlight their significance in nursing practice globally.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Narrative reviews provide broad, flexible overviews of topics; however, they lack methodological rigour, which can potentially result in bias. Systematic reviews provide high-quality, reliable evidence by using a structured approach to synthesising data from multiple studies; this makes them valuable for clinical decision-making and the development of guidelines. Scoping reviews map the scope of research onto emerging topics, identifying gaps and future research priorities, though they do not typically assess the quality of included studies.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Literature reviews are vital tools for nurses worldwide. Understanding the differences between types of literature review enables nurses to effectively use the one most appropriate to their needs. This is essential for evidence-based practice, informs clinical and policy decisions, and supports high-quality patient care, as well as contributing to nurses' professional development.</p><p><strong>Implications for practice: </strong>Nurses who engage with literature reviews can stay informed about the latest research, improve patient outcomes and participate in the advancement of nursing knowledge globally.</p>","PeriodicalId":47412,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Researcher","volume":" ","pages":"27-33"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143059692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nurse ResearcherPub Date : 2025-06-11Epub Date: 2024-12-05DOI: 10.7748/nr.2024.e1944
Louise Condon, Prue Thimbleby, Denise Barry, Jolana Curejova, Donna Leeanne Morgan, Sam Worrall, Suzy Hargreaves, Filiz Celik, Menna Price
{"title":"Cocreating composite digital stories to share research findings with minority ethnic and disadvantaged communities: a reflective guide.","authors":"Louise Condon, Prue Thimbleby, Denise Barry, Jolana Curejova, Donna Leeanne Morgan, Sam Worrall, Suzy Hargreaves, Filiz Celik, Menna Price","doi":"10.7748/nr.2024.e1944","DOIUrl":"10.7748/nr.2024.e1944","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Researchers have an ethical responsibility to share their findings with their studies' participants and those who can influence policy and practice. Storytelling is an arts-based approach increasingly used in nursing research to share findings, but little has been written about how to use the approach in participatory research involving people from minority ethnic and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To present a guide to cocreating digital stories to share research findings with minority ethnic and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The authors and peer researchers from minority communities used a rigorous method to cocreate composite digital stories from their qualitative research's findings. The authors describe and reflect on the stages of the creative process, focusing on the actions required before, at and after the collaborative workshop.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>A rigorous process is required to create composite, naturalistic digital stories that authentically reflect research findings and are accessible to listeners.</p><p><strong>Implications for practice: </strong>Digital stories are an engaging, feasible and equitable way to share research findings with minority ethnic and disadvantaged communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":47412,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Researcher","volume":" ","pages":"10-17"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142781453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nurse ResearcherPub Date : 2025-06-11Epub Date: 2025-03-13DOI: 10.7748/nr.2025.e1958
Ruth Alison Mursa, Christopher Patterson, Gemma McErlean, Elizabeth Halcomb
{"title":"How many is enough? Justifying sample size in descriptive quantitative research.","authors":"Ruth Alison Mursa, Christopher Patterson, Gemma McErlean, Elizabeth Halcomb","doi":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1958","DOIUrl":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1958","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Descriptive quantitative researchers often use surveys to collect data about a group or phenomenon. Determining the required sample size in descriptive surveys can pose a challenge as there is no simple 'formula' by which to calculate an appropriate sample. However, when a sample is too small the study may fail to answer the research question and too many responses can create resource implications.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To explore considerations regarding the justification of adequate sample size in descriptive quantitative research.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Several considerations may assist quantitative descriptive researchers in examining the appropriateness and justification of sample size. Response rates can guide decision-making around the proportion of the target population who respond. Additionally, consideration of any validated tools, the spread or responses and types of analysis can guide sampling decisions.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The strategies in this article provide a considered approach to justifying sample size in descriptive quantitative research. Factors such as response rates and analytical considerations provide a transparent means of justifying an adequate sample.</p><p><strong>Implications for practice: </strong>Providing clear justification for the sample size within descriptive quantitative research demonstrates a robust research approach and optimises resource use.</p>","PeriodicalId":47412,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Researcher","volume":" ","pages":"35-40"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143617586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nurse ResearcherPub Date : 2025-06-11Epub Date: 2025-01-02DOI: 10.7748/nr.2025.e1946
Fiona Meth, Louise Warwick-Booth
{"title":"Sex workers and their stories: using timelines as a creative method in research involving underserved populations.","authors":"Fiona Meth, Louise Warwick-Booth","doi":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1946","DOIUrl":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1946","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Researchers may often find it challenging to gather data with underserved populations, even when using traditional qualitative methods. They may also be at risk of further entrenching the hegemony of the dominant narrative, silencing participants' experiences and further marginalising and excluding those most in need. Timelines and other creative methods are useful, sensitive tools that combine flexibility and malleability with an ethical appeal, such as feminist ethics of care. Researchers can use them to gather data from participants experiencing inequalities and trauma.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To outline the value of timelines as a method in nursing research.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This article considers feminist values, power dynamics and the ethics of using timelines when gathering data. It illustrates these using the example of a study involving female sex workers.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Creative methods minimise the ways in which researchers control the production of data and enable participants to choose how they narrate complex and traumatic experiences. Researchers can combine them with deep, ongoing reflexivity to address some of the power imbalances inherent in research and mitigate epistemic violence.</p><p><strong>Implications for practice: </strong>There are strong and evidence-based ethical motivations for conducting research using creative methods. Having a flexible approach to their application and use in practice is key, as not everyone wants to engage with creative methods, or they may not wish to engage with that specific method at that time. Creative methods can serve as vital anchor points in your interviews with participants and are as much about the process as they are about the output.</p>","PeriodicalId":47412,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Researcher","volume":" ","pages":"19-26"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142915964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An introduction to umbrella reviews in evidence-based healthcare practice.","authors":"Jacqueline Harley","doi":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1965","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.2025.e1965","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>It is essential to synthesise evidence to ensure that reliable data inform clinical practice. Umbrella reviews are a key approach for aggregating findings from systematic reviews, meta-analyses and meta-syntheses. They help healthcare professionals to evaluate diverse findings in a single, comprehensive review. Healthcare professionals must understand how umbrella reviews work to enable them to interpret the broader research landscape and make informed clinical decisions.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To introduce the main features of umbrella reviews, examine their strengths and limitations and outline the stages involved in conducting a review.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Umbrella reviews typically involve identifying relevant reviews, assessing their quality, synthesising their findings and highlighting overall patterns and gaps. There are challenges in conducting umbrella reviews, including the potential variability of the included reviews' quality and difficulties comparing studies with different methodologies. Nonetheless, they remain vital in guiding evidence-based practice, offering clarity in complex healthcare landscapes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Umbrella reviews are essential tools for synthesising high-level evidence, streamlining the process of informing clinical practice. Despite certain limitations, they support evidence-based decision-making effectively.</p><p><strong>Implications for practice: </strong>By aggregating evidence from systematic and meta-studies, umbrella reviews enhance understanding of complex health issues, enabling clinicians to make well-informed decisions. They improve patient care, support better clinical guidelines and reduce variability in treatment. However, clinicians must account for potential variations in the quality of the included studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":47412,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Researcher","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144120797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sally Goldspink, Andrea Tuckwell, Nieky van Veggel, Hilary Engward, Naim Abdulmohdi, Marie Alexander
{"title":"Professionals in-place: the role of the practice-based research coordinator.","authors":"Sally Goldspink, Andrea Tuckwell, Nieky van Veggel, Hilary Engward, Naim Abdulmohdi, Marie Alexander","doi":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1964","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.2025.e1964","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The authors were members of a large, interorganisational research project conducted by a university and an English NHS trust. The project's success relied on building positive partnerships and networks over three years. Recognising the challenges of working across different organisations, the authors created a new role for a nurse: the 'in-place research coordinator' (IPRC).</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To introduce and explain the new role and provide examples of how the authors devised and applied it during their research.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The IPRC was a member of the NHS trust, so brought valuable organisational insights to the research team while gaining research experience through applying her professional knowledge and connections.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The IPRC enabled this inter-organisational research to take place, and had measurable efficacy and impact.</p><p><strong>Implications for practice: </strong>The authors recommend that future collaborative inter-organisational research projects include an IPRC, with specific budgeting for the role and recruitment from practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":47412,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Researcher","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144081389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joy Oghogho Watterson, Rupinder Kaur Bajwa, Louise Howe, Alison Cowley, Kathryn Fairbrother
{"title":"Reflections on exploratory conversations about healthcare research: it is time for a real change.","authors":"Joy Oghogho Watterson, Rupinder Kaur Bajwa, Louise Howe, Alison Cowley, Kathryn Fairbrother","doi":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1950","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.2025.e1950","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Clinical research practitioners, nurses, allied healthcare professionals, doctors and any other healthcare professionals delivering clinical research have seen firsthand the under-representation of ethnic minorities as participants in research. This means that people who take part in research often do not reflect the target disease population. This can lead to health inequalities and disparities in treatment outcomes.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To explore ethnic minority communities' perspectives of clinical research and identify areas of research that may interest them.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The authors had exploratory conversations between October 2022 and March 2023 through patient and public involvement and engagement (PPI/E) consultations with Caribbean groups and Asian groups in their community centres and research delivery staff in Nottinghamshire. They found during these conversations that the community groups could benefit from a deeper understanding of clinical research, including its procedures and common misconceptions. They conceptualised the potential impacts of negative and positive research experiences.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Researchers, funders and stakeholders can facilitate participation in research. Researchers must focus on addressing barriers to participation by fostering continuous collaboration, offering research education, feeding back on the progress of research, building trustworthy relationships and addressing concerns that people might have about research or their immediate health.</p><p><strong>Implications for practice: </strong>This exploratory conversation demonstrates that researchers could provide meaningful research experience that would facilitate research participation by involving people from diverse backgrounds to influence the research question, methodology and every aspect of the research process through coproduction, codesign and PPI activities.</p>","PeriodicalId":47412,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Researcher","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144039447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Navigating evidence: a concise guide to types of literature review commonly used in healthcare research.","authors":"Jacqueline Harley","doi":"10.7748/nr.2025.e1963","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7748/nr.2025.e1963","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Literature reviews evaluate the evidence currently available concerning a particular phenomenon of interest. They are essential tools that offer healthcare professionals insights into existing knowledge, identify gaps and guide future studies. There are different types of literature review, each of which has unique purposes, methodologies, strengths and limitations, and researchers must select the type most appropriate to their needs.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To discuss the main features of common types of literature review, clarify their characteristics and guide healthcare professionals and researchers in making informed decisions.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>It can be challenging to choose a type of literature review as it must align with the focus of your research. The type you choose will influence the depth of your analysis and the applicability of your findings to clinical practice. It is therefore crucial to understand the different types and their applications, so you can select the type most appropriate to your research, ensure it effectively addresses your research questions and contributes insights.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Choosing the right type of literature review is crucial for effectively addressing research questions and advancing knowledge in healthcare. Understanding the distinct purposes and methodologies of different types of review will help you to make an informed choice that enhances the relevance and impact of your research, leading to stronger evidence and better outcomes.</p><p><strong>Implications for practice: </strong>Healthcare professionals will be able to ensure their research is methodologically sound and relevant in practice. This will ultimately lead to better-informed decisions and improved outcomes for patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":47412,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Researcher","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143701836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}