Do Jointly Appointed Nursing and Midwifery Clinical Academics Provide Benefits to Patients, Individual Joint Appointees, Academic Institutions and Health and Social Care Organisations? A Scoping Literature Review.

AIM

This review aimed to assess the evidence of benefit from Nurses and Midwives' Clinical Academic (NMCA) appointments and establish the value of their contribution to the key stakeholders: patients, the individual joint appointees, academic institutions and health and social care organisations.

BACKGROUND

Jointly appointed clinical academic posts for nurses and midwives are rare, making up less than 0.1% of the workforce in the UK.

DESIGN

A scoping review.

METHODS

Conducted following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Methodology for Scoping Reviews.

DATA SOURCES

ProQuest, SCOPUS, MEDLINE Ovid, CINAHL Ultimate and British Library EThOS were searched for English-language publications from January 2013 to December 2023.

RESULTS

Thirteen papers met the inclusion criteria. Key themes were the introduction of effective care guidelines and interventions, shared decision-making in care and research, individual professional growth and development, motivation and job satisfaction, improved clinical-academic partnerships and research advancement.

CONCLUSION

There is emerging evidence of significant benefits from clinical academic posts in nursing and midwifery; studies have generally been qualitative, focusing less on quantitative approaches.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE: This study demonstrates potential benefits to both the nursing/midwifery profession and patients, particularly regarding the generation of new knowledge and provision of quality care.