Combining clinical practice and academic work in nursing: A qualitative study about perceived importance, facilitators and barriers regarding clinical academic careers for nurses in university hospitals

Aims and objectives To obtain in‐depth insight into the perceptions of nurse academics and other stakeholders regarding the importance, facilitators and barriers for nurses combining clinical and academic work in university hospitals. Background Combining clinical practice and academic work facilitates the use of research findings for high‐quality patient care. However, nurse academics move away from the bedside because clinical academic careers for nurses have not yet been established in the Netherlands. Methods This qualitative study was conducted in two Dutch university hospitals and their affiliated medical faculties and universities of applied sciences. Data were collected between May 2015 and August 2016. We used purposive sampling for 24 interviews. We asked 14 participants in two focus groups for their perceptions of importance, facilitators and barriers in nurses’ combined clinical and academic work in education and research. We audiotaped, transcribed and thematically analysed the interviews and focus groups. Results Three themes related to perceived importance, facilitators and barriers: culture, leadership and infrastructure. These themes represent deficiencies in facilitating clinical academic careers for nurses. The current nursing culture emphasises direct patient care, which is perceived as an academic misfit. Leadership is lacking at all levels, resulting in the underuse of nurse academics and the absence of supporting structures for nurses who combine clinical and academic work. Conclusions The present nursing culture appears to be the root cause of the dearth of academic positions and established clinical academic posts. Relevance to clinical practice A culture change would require a show of leadership that would promote and enable combined research, teaching and clinical practice and that would introduce clinical academic career pathways for nurses. Meanwhile, nurse academics should collaborate with established medical academics for whom combined roles are mainstream, and they should take advantage of their established infrastructure for success.