Expanding clinical research capacity through a community of practice (CoPER)

Summary 

Purpose

The proposed CoPER project (Community of Practice for Engaging in Research) responds to a need for increased research capacity in a clinical setting. We put forward an argument and a design for a prospective action research project to extend research capacity via an integrated academic and practitioner community of practice in an Emergency Department (ED).

Procedures

This paper explores the research needs of clinicians, articulates the concept of community of practice in light of these needs, and outlines the rationale for considering communities of practice as a potential contributor to building research capacity in a clinical setting.

Findings

A potential methodology is suggested to test the linkage between research needs, the concept of a community of practice model in a clinical setting, and the contribution of such a model to building research capacity in a clinical setting via the CoPER framework.

Conclusions

Combined data from this proposed mixed method action research (survey, focus groups, interviews, observation) are expected to enable the production of a set of facilitators and enablers with a view to building a community of research practice which make the case study transferable to other clinical and non-clinical work settings.

Keywords: Research capacity, Clinical nursing research, Group processes, Professional role, Communities of practice