Research Group of Nursing and Healthcare Sciences

The research group is interdisciplinary, encompassing a diverse range of both theoretical and methodological approaches. The research frequently spans various diagnoses and clinics, offering significant insights into multiple areas of healthcare, such as patients' and next of kin's experiences of trust, uncertainty in illness, meaning, coping, guilt and shame.

Research is also being conducted on patient safety and major public healthcare problems such as mental healthcare and the consequences of living with various chronic diseases.

The aim of the research group is to develop new, clinically oriented knowledge about:

• how care and consequences of illness and treatment are experienced
• how the healthcare service is developed, organised and managed
• patients, next of kin and healthcare personnel's perceptions of and experiences with the services provided

in order to ensure the best possible quality of healthcare and to inform clinical practice and decision-makers about best practice.

In addition, the goal is to stimulate and increase nursing and healthcare research.

The research results are relevant to clinical practice, health professions and education and will support, develop and improve the organisation and practice of nursing and other healthcare, such as physiotherapy, nutritional physiology and pharmacy.

The research group Nursing and Healthcare Sciences is led by Kirsten Lode, Director of Healthcare Sciences, Professor II.

Research methods

Nursing and healthcare sciences take place at the intersection of the humanities, social and natural sciences and have as their main task to link clinical practice and research together.

The projects often deal with the individual aspect, which is challenging in a dynamic and complex field. This means that the studies most often have open-ended research questions and issues that are suitable for developing in-depth knowledge.

Most of the projects have a qualitative methodological approach to the research field using methods such as individual interviews and focus group interviews.

Quantitative methods (e.g. questionnaires, randomised controlled trials and quasi-experiments) are also applied to investigate issues at group level when this is most appropriate.

In addition, mixed methods are used, where both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in the same project.

The group's members have been responsible for and participated in several applications to, and received funding from, the Western Norway Regional Health Authority, the Research Council of Norway and the EU. Professor Ingelin Testad heads the first EU project where Stavanger University Hospital is the coordinating institution (add title to the project).

Research projects

The studies are related to clinical issues. Typical research projects include living with heart disease, cancer, mental disorders, obesity, kidney disease, psychosis or dementia. User involvement and patient safety are central, as well as the situation of relatives and healthcare personnel's approach to the clinical field.

Cooperation

Several of the research group's members participate or collaborate with other research groups both at local, regional, national and international and contribute with expertise in patient-reported data (PROM) and qualitative research methods.

The research group has a close collaboration with the University of Stavanger. The group has also partnered with partners from the University of Umeå, Aalborg University Hospital and the University of Aalborg.

In addition, the researchers are affiliated with research groups and research networks both regionally, nationally and internationally.  

Members and publicationlist