GRIISIQ research projects take different forms:

• Graduate student projects;
• Collective interuniversity pilot or clinical-research projects.

There are many types of studies, including the following:

• Studies to develop a randomized controlled trial (e.g., phases I & II, feasibility studies, pilot projects);
• Studies focusing on the development of an innovative intervention, refinement of an existing intervention, or adaptation to another clinical population or healthcare setting;
• Studies on a nursing intervention that will be verified in further studies (e.g., qualitative studies whose main purpose is to define a nursing intervention in keeping with the needs identified by a population with the help of interviews or focus groups);
• Studies testing, developing, refining or adapting a measuring instrument for determining the clinical impact of nursing interventions on a given population.

Pilot projects and clinical research projects are varied.

Pilot Projects

Provided they support a nursing intervention with clinical outcomes, GRIISIQ recognizes the following as pilot projects:

• Smaller-scale studies conducted prior to a larger study on the same subject;
• Studies that aim to evaluate a project's feasibility or pre-test and validate measuring instruments;
• Studies conducted with the same rigour as the main study in order to detect any weaknesses and correct them in the main study;
• Studies in which participants come from the same population as the future main study and in which the same intervention and data-collection and data-analysis methods are used.

A GRIISIQ researcher may wish to conduct a pilot study for various reasons; for example, to:

• Develop or test measuring instruments;
• Evaluate the feasibility of the project deemed viable, but in a different context or setting;
• Determine the best approach to recruit participants;
• Estimate sample size;
• Determine the resources needed for the main study (costs, staff);
• Collect preliminary data;
• Evaluate proposed data analysis techniques in order to detect potential problems.

Clinical Research Projects

Providing that it is supporting a “nursing intervention with clinical outcomes[1]”, GRIISIQ recognizes the following as a “clinical research project” one that:

• Is conducted where care is delivered;
• Aims to demonstrate the potential benefits of an intervention, evaluate an existing clinical-intervention program, or implement a new intervention model in one or more healthcare settings;
• Whose outcomes provide decision- makers, clinicians and patients with information on the characteristics (benefits and limitations) of the proposed intervention in an actual healthcare context.

In recognizing this definition, clinical research projects supported by GRIISIQ prioritizes the following pragmatic aspects;

• The use of research and implementation designs that are reasonable and appropriate to the clinical setting(s) involved;
• The study’s ecological value, i.e. the congruence of the circumstances under which the intervention is tested (and implemented) and the real conditions of nursing practice;

• The use of precautions to ensure that results can be generalized or transferred to the clinical population;
• A realistic funding plan with which to implement the project;
• The commitment of clinical decision makers to carry out the project.

 

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