Evidence-based practice: a mixture of motives?

The growing importance of research and development in the NHS presents a major challenge to nurses. They are not centrally involved in influencing the R&D agenda, while nursing research, despite its recent boom, is not seen as integral to evidence-based practice. This paper suggests that the R&D initiative, like most policy developments, mixes altruism and pragmatism. Its aims include cost containment and control of the professions, alongside its more overtly expressed commitment to improving the quality of care. Useful efforts are being made to tackle the shortcomings of nursing research. However, the paper argues that nurses attempting to influence the R&D agenda need to be alert to its political nuances if they are to be effective.