Atlantic Health Promotion Research Centre | Publications and Presentations | Monograph - Using evidence: Advances and debates in bridging health research and action

This paper describes the first phase of a collaborative research project looking at how front-line clinicians can improve the fundamentals of care older people receive in the acute hospital setting. Supported by the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) Nursing Education Fund, this 12-month pilot explores how seven interdisciplinary teams can introduce evidence-based practice protocols in seven areas of care known to be important to older people.

The initiative is part of a South Australia state-wide strategy for improving the health care of older people. The research is also exploring the spread of strategies and how they are interpreted and implemented at different levels in the hospital system.

This paper focuses on the rationale for selecting a collaborative research approach and explains it in terms of the underlying conceptual framework used to test KT and the subsequent methodological approaches used. It describes the intervention and evaluation approaches.

Authors

Dr. Alison Kitson
Professor and Head of Discipline of Nursing,
School of Population Health and Clinical Practice;
Director, Centre for Evidence Based Practice South Australia (CEPSA);
University of Adelaide, 5005
Associate Fellow, Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, Oxford

Alison Kitson took up the post of Professor of Nursing and Head of Discipline at the University of Adelaide at the beginning of 2009. Prior to this she was the Royal Adelaide Hospital Nursing Education Fund Inaugural Fellow and has worked closely with interdisciplinary teams around improving the fundamentals of care for older people going through the acute hospital setting.

She has a long career in nursing and her research interests include getting evidence and innovations into everyday practice. Effective leadership is a key part of this.

She holds many honorary positions internationally and has published extensively on the subject of implementing evidence into practice. She has also held several executive roles, most recently Executive Director of Nursing at the Royal College of Nursing in the UK. Her links with Green Templeton College span almost two decades, where she was the first Junior Research Fellow in Nursing to be appointed to the College.

Danni Marcoionni
Nurse Management Facilitator,
Nursing, Anaesthesia, Allied Health and General Services,
Royal Adelaide Hospital, North Terrace, Adelaide 5000

Tammy Page
Nursing quality manager, Nursing, Anaesthesia,
Allied Health and General Services,
Royal Adelaide Hospital, North Terrace, Adelaide 5000

Rick Wiechula,
Lecturer, Discipline of Nursing,
School of Population Health and Clinical Practice;
Depty Director, CEPSA,
University of Adelaide, 5005

Kathryn Zeitz
Director, Patient Pathways,
Royal Adelaide Hospital
North Terrace, Adelaide 5000

Heidi Silverston
Director, Clinical Leadership Programme in Australia™,
Royal Adelaide Hospital
North Terrace, Adelaide 5000

Please note: URL/Links to individual researcher's profiles were accurate as of October 2010

Monograph

Using evidence: Advances and debates in bridging health
research and action

Using knowledge translation to transform the fundamentals of care:
The older person and improving care project

Abstract

Authors

Monograph

Using evidence: Advances and debates in bridging health research and action

Using knowledge translation to transform the fundamentals of care: The older person and improving care project

Abstract

Authors

Using evidence: Advances and debates in bridging health
research and action

Using knowledge translation to transform the fundamentals of care:
The older person and improving care project