By Parveen Ali, PhD, RN, lecturer and researcher at The University of Sheffield School of Nursing and Midwifery in Sheffield, England and associate editor, Nursing Open.
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| Parveen Ali |
I am in Dublin to attend the 28th International Nursing Research Congress, the first research congress I’ve attended. It is special and exciting for me as I was presented the Emerging Nurse Researcher award. A big “thank you” to STTI and those who nominated me.
The purpose of this post, however, is not to talk about my award, but to reflect on my experiences of attending sessions, chairing a session, and conducting a session. Yes, I played all these roles at this event, in addition to meeting colleagues from around the world, those I’ve known and those I’ve just met. It is a great opportunity to learn about research that is being conducted in various parts of the world. While all sessions I’ve attended have been very informative and interesting and it was difficult to choose between sessions offered concurrently, I particularly liked sessions on use of technology in nursing education.
The first presenter, Cynthia Foronda, PhD, RN, talked about nursing education in a virtual world. Seamus Cowman, PhD, MSc, discussed replacing hard copies of textbooks with e-books in Bahrain and its impact on student learning. It was interesting to explore the usefulness of technology in nursing education and enablers and barriers that can affect its use. It was also interesting to see that the same issue is of relevance to nurses and nurse educators, whether they work in developed countries, such as the United States, or in developing countries and conservative societies.
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| Parveen Ali, Past President Hester C. Klopper, and Janet Scammell of Bournemouth University in England. |
Another very useful and interesting session explored family-centred versus child-centred care. It was interesting to listen to arguments pro and con regarding these two types of care in pediatric settings. The conclusion was that both are important and there is no reason for choosing one over the other, that perhaps we should be providing person- and family-centred care. In our discussion, we acknowledged that these concepts may have different relevance in different contexts, which needs to be considered.
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| Janet Scammell, STTI board member Elizabeth Rosser, and Parveen Ali. |
Finally, I had the pleasure of exploring posters presented at the congress. I am amazed by the quality, breadth, and depth of the subjects covered by nurses and nursing students from around the world. While it’s refreshing to see new ideas being explored and exciting results presented, it is concerning to note that, for many topics, it appears that we haven’t moved much. For instance, I remember exploring the role of nurse as advocate more than 15 years ago as an undergraduate nursing student, and it’s a little bit disappointing to see that maybe we haven’t progressed significantly with regards to this issue in many countries.
Nevertheless, conferences such as this research congress provide nurses—practitioners as well as educators—with an opportunity to discuss contemporary issues that affect nursing practice and to address problems as well as solutions, thereby advancing evidence-based practice.
As I write this, I am looking forward to witnessing the induction of senior research leaders into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. Roger Watson, my teacher and mentor, is among them!
To access information about Ali’s presentation, including slides, click here.
To access information about Ali’s presentation, including slides, click here.
