The potential for learning within hospital learning communities: the interplay between nursing practice and education to support research ability

Objectives: Nurses must contribute to the development of professional practice and thereby improve quality of care by using their research abilities. Therefore, learning communities comprised of nurses, students and teachers were created in a hospital. Methods: A qualitative descriptive methodology was used. Three learning communities were purposefully selected, and members were asked open-ended questions about their learning and activities in multiple data collection sessions. Data were analyzed by means of an inductive process. Results: Both individually and collectively, members learned about research in general, research terminology and methods. They learned about asking questions and critical thinking, and, specifically through collective learning, they learned about the differences between education practices. Activities were carried out primarily to continue personal learning. Conclusions: Learning within the learning communities was mainly research-oriented and therefore potentially suitable for enhancing research ability. Implications are offered to support the formulation of community activities.