Stimulated by insight: Exploration of critical care nurses' experience of research participation in a recovery programme for intensive care survivors

Aims and objectives To explore critical care nurses' experiences of research participation during a one‐year recovery programme for intensive care survivors. Background Nurse‐led postintensive care follow‐up consultations have emerged to help patients to recover and overcome problems related to critical illness and admission at the intensive care unit (ICU). Previous research exploring post‐ICU follow‐up programmes have shown inconclusive evidence of their effectiveness on patient‐reported outcome measurements, and provider evaluation is scarce. The context of this study is the Recovery and Aftercare in Postintensive care Therapy (RAPIT) trial. Design A qualitative descriptive telephone interview study. Methods Data were collected after completion of the RAPIT trial. Participants (n = 14) were trained intensive care nurses, who delivered the post‐ICU recovery programme, representing nine out of ten sites from the RAPIT trial. Two focus group discussions were used to construct a semistructured interview guide. A thematic data analysis was performed using Braun and Clark's six‐step method. This study conforms to the COREQ Research Reporting Guidelines for qualitative studies. Results Our study indicated that nurses considered participation in research as a positive experience. The main finding “Stimulated by insight” described how nurses' engagement and professional growth was gained by reflection, patient feedback and research competencies acquired in the clinical setting. The research programmes stimulated to new knowledge, broaden their perspectives and enhanced critical reflection of ICU nursing practice. Conclusions The study indicates that nurses developed research competencies and enhanced their job satisfaction by using critical reflection and patient feedback. However, there is still a substantial need for support to strengthen nurses' competencies in collaboration with colleagues, managers and researchers. Relevance to Clinical Practice This study can contribute to the development of recommendations supporting nurses doing research and to optimise implementation of clinical research.