Stakeholders’ perceptions of a research capacity development project for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals

Aims To evaluate stakeholders' perceptions of the extent to which a research facilitator post was addressing aims of:

• providing academic support to enable research involvement of nurses, midwives and allied health professionals;
• supporting dissemination of research into practice;
• contributing to research strategy development.
Background Barriers to research capacity development have been recognized for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. A project established in a London NHS trust aimed to address these.

Methods A mixed methods approach was used.

Results Responses were generally very positive. The post effected improvements in the research culture and perceived increase in research-related activities.

Conclusion The post made substantial progress towards its aims. This approach may be useful in other healthcare locations to build research capacity.

Implications for nursing management Challenged by increasing priority accorded to research capacity and service research implementation yet recognition of barriers to achievement, this study offers insights from one means to address this.