WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing

Nursing Research Institute

The main purpose of the Nursing Research Institute (NRI) and its Foundation is to support nurses, public health nurses and midwives to improve people’s health by implementing evidence-based nursing in practice. The foundation, among other things, promotes production of systematic reviews and evidence-based guidelines for clinical nursing. The foundation is an active partner in the field of nursing research and works closely with universities, universities of applied sciences, hospital districts and health care organizations and nursing associations.

The Finnish Nurses’ Association’s project ‘Towards increased effectiveness in nursing through scientific evidence’ has been incorporated in the work of the NRI. Currently there are several groups producing evidence-based nursing guidelines. Examples of the topics of these guidelines include pain management, patient education and support for postnatal depression.

The NRI has intensively participated in the preparation of the new national action plan in nursing by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health for the years 2009–2011. The plan is called ‘Increasing the effectiveness and attraction of nursing care by means of management’. As a part of the action plan the NRI is currently developing a model for implementing consistent evidence-based practices, such as the nursing guidelines described above. The model is developed for nurse managers, clinical nurse specialists, educators, researchers and nursing staff. The model will be piloted in health care organizations during 2011 and implemented in the whole country thereafter. Information on the model will be distributed later.

The ‘Healthy start in life: nursing and midwifery’ development project in St Petersburg, Russia lasted four years (2004-2007). During the project data of women’s health in one of the hospital regions in St Petersburg were collected, lectures and educational materials for the staff of the hospital were arranged and study visits to hospitals in Finland were realized.

Presently the NRI is planning to establish a JBI Collaboration Centre to Finland. Nursing Research Foundation and JBI have similar aims to promote health by increasing effectiveness in health care nationally and internationally.

Contact:

Dr Arja Holopainen
Asemaniehenhkatu 2
00520 Helsinki
Finland
Tel.: +358 44 5290065