Conducting Research: Perspectives of Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) and Healthcare Executives

This study day aims to provide a forum for two professional groups to meet and exchange ideas: namely advanced practice nurses (APNs) and healthcare executives, where the role of research has been steadily growing for several years in France, particularly through a process known as “universitarization.”

The growing prominence of research in APN and healthcare executive training programs stems from a combination of
factors of various kinds, primarily related to the efforts made by these professional groups to enhance
their legitimacy and professionalism, but also from changes in the hospital environment, the shortage of physicians, health policy directions, and budgetary constraints.

However, the focus here will be less on the “why” and more on the “how” of the advancement of research within these two professional groups, in order to describe and analyze the practices implemented within training programs and/or in professional settings.

This inquiry will be organized around four thematic areas:

• Practical Nurses (IPAs) and Healthcare Managers: What Are Their Research Pathways?
• What research topics and methodologies?
• What resources and material conditions are needed to conduct research?
• What is the purpose of conducting research, and why?