Looking back at Connect 2011: A NRF perspective

Blog post by BCNRI-funded Nursing Research Facilitators

This year's InspireNet conference was a great event, filled with a LOT of networking (the name says it all!), and the opportunity to hear from leaders in nursing health services research.

All six Nursing Research Facilitators (NRFs) were in attendance. For NRFs attending their second InspireNet conference, it was a time to draw some conclusions about what they've enjoyed - those conversations we have at the tables, coffee bar, lunch line ups and bathroom line-ups - if you're female. For newer NRFs, it was a great welcome into the role, an opportunity to connect with the other NRFs and Inspirenet members from around the province, and a time to reconnect with passionate researchers who serve as inspirations.

The incredible turnout at Connect 2011 produced a buzz in the room that had nothing to do with the endless supply of free coffee. 215 InspireNet members were in attendance; an increase of 79% from last year. Participants included academics, operational leaders, front line staff, and students from all over BC. Speaking of all over, 14 members were able to attend thanks to travel support from InspireNet. We had four InspireNet members from Northern Health: Martha MacLeod, Tanya Barrett, Tanya Schilling, and their brand new NRF, Linda Axen, make the trip down to participate in the conference (so much for complaining about the commute from East Vancouver).

Kicking off the morning was the discussion around using social media - when someone had confessed that they were reading about "tweets", but had no idea what that meant. Meanwhile, others including one of the NRFs were already “live-tweeting” about the conference. Besides becoming paranoid about tweeting out inappropriate typos, and looking like someone blatantly ignoring the discussions, it was interesting to network and share information through different forums - in REAL TIME. No waiting for someone to get back to work, lose their enthusiasm, and possibly present at a staff meeting.

Starting off the Inspire! portion of the day, keynote Lynn Stevenson set the tone when she posed the question: "Do we want to be servants of what is, or shapers of what could be?" It became clear over the course of the day, just what InspireNet members endeavour to be.

Carole Estabrooks’ keynote presentation followed on rising rates of dementia and the need for dementia research when she said: "I thought the Boomers would be the ones to change things…but they better do it quickly…before they get dementia!" Clearly, to participants’ appreciation, Connect 2011 would not be short of humour.

The Action! portion included a panel presentation by David Byres, Carolyn Tayler, and Sabrina Wong. David Byres spoke of Providence Health Care's successes including development of the Nursing Education and Research Rounds (NEARR), and a research challenge currently supporting 15 research projects. The take away message was the importance of considering what the workforce and patients will need in the near future.

Fraser Health’s Carolyn Tayler spoke of the importance of a culture that supports and values research at all levels from the front-line to the boardroom. Many agreed that, "Research activities need to be not just an extra piece of work added to our role, but an embedded and resourced component of our role."

Sabrina Wong from UBC's School of Nursing spoke of her role and successes in supporting nurses conducting research. "We must believe we can do both practice and research." Sabrina also suggested to have practicing nurses sit on graduate students' research committees. She shared her conviction that "We must make more visible our knowledge as nurses."

The presentations and panel discussions definitely give little snippets of information that spark lots of ideas for different people. Some people want to implement something that they heard, learn more about a topic that they never considered, see what is happening in other areas, and lastly enjoy a good presentation. Why did these presentations have such an impact? It was the combined messages around successes, particularly the successes of the NRF, the recognition of the need for a work culture supportive of research, and the importance of professional roles that support nurses in their desire to conduct research. Nursing is such a dynamic and fascinating career choice. Research, and the opportunities and knowledge generated by research, will continue to inspire passionate brilliant people into our profession.

Thinking back to the conference, a few key phrases continue to resonate. Carole Estabrooks, one of the keynotes and a nurse scholar, spoke about what motivated her to do research in the little studied area of dementia and residential care. It was her strong desire to correct what she perceived as wrong in the care to this elderly population. Carole quoted the 1976 movie, “Network” wherein the lead role boldly states “I am mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore”. Whether it is anger, a deep seated curiousity that needs satisfying or a commitment to make a difference as Lynn Stevenson spoke about, the overriding conference message was one of passion for this activity we call research. Each speaker from the keynotes, workshop leads or poster presenters generously shared their passions and hopefully ignited something of the sort in others in attendance. For the NRFs, that was certainly the case.

It is great to be in a room where various people show up with an interest in health services research - whatever that means to them and their health care role. Growing from 300 to 1,400 members makes it feel that you are not shouting in the wind as a nursing research facilitator, but planting small seeds that might grow. Someone mentioned that InspireNet is a tool for planting seeds for nursing health services research – and maybe the NRFs are the gardeners!

Submitted by NRFs:

InspireNet members:

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