RESEARCH PRIORITIES IN PAEDIATRIC HAEMATOLOGY–ONCOLOGY NURSING: A MULTI-ROUND DELPHI STUDY

Clinical nursing research in a pediatric unit of hematology, oncology, immunology, and infectious diseases must be effectively integrated and applied to practice. To achieve this, ownership and identification of priorities must come from those most likely to implement research findings in clinical settings.The “Nurses’ Research Group” initiated this study as a first step toward developing a nursing strategy based on evidence. Four members of the group volunteered to form a working party to conduct the study.This paper describes a four-round Delphi study. The study questionnaire was sent to all nursing staff within the unit. The initial process identified 151 research topics/issues. Through a process of refinement, the priority list was reduced to 89 topics.Repeated rounds were conducted, culminating in the identification of four top-priority research areas.