Developing a Research Agenda for Nursing and Midwifery: A Modified Delphi Study

Aim: We sought to ascertain the nursing and midwifery research priorities at a large privatetertiary hospital in Australia.Design A modified Delphi technique with two rounds of questionnaires.Methods The first round survey was distributed to 448 nurses and midwives with a 19.2%(n=86) response rate. Due to a low response rate in some specialties, the second round of theDelphi was only sent to nurses in the Learning and Organisational Development specialitywho were asked to rank ten identified topics specific to learning and organisationaldevelopment using a five point Likert-type scale.Results Two hundred and fifty seven topics were identified in Round One and werecondensed to 181 topics. Each topic was assigned to one of four categories: clinical audit;existing evidence base; research; or other topics which fell beyond the bounds of nursing ormidwifery research. Twenty three research topics were identified with priorities focusing onlearning and development and workforce issues.Conclusion Priorities were congruent with the organisation’s strategic workforce focus.Topics identified in this study will ensure that the nursing and midwifery research conductedat the study setting is relevant and reflects priorities as determined by clinical nurses andmidwives.