Introduction to Nursing and Midwifery Research

Research is one way to acquire knowledge in order to make sense of the world. Research offers a systematic method of confirming existing knowledge and building new knowledge in a profession or discipline. Nursing and midwifery research is a way to explore and discover new knowledge to refine and expand the body of knowledge that clinicians, managers and policy-makers draw upon to advance practice. Nurses and midwives use research findings and their professional experience with patients and clinical practice to provide quality care based on the best and most up-to-date available evidence; this is known as evidence-based practice. Research in nursing and midwifery was relatively late to develop compared with other disciplines, largely because nursing education was moved into the tertiary sector relatively recently, but research is increasingly important to sustain in a complex and rapidly changing healthcare landscape.