Nursing as a "social programme"?

• Duration: 2021-2024
• Dissertant: Martin Wallner, BSc, MA
• Supervisor: Univ. Prof. Dr. Hanna Mayer
• Funding: sowi:docs Fellowship, Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences, University of Vienna

Background: Nursing-related impact research plays an essential role in knowledge production for evidence-based and safe nursing practice. Despite a wealth of existing guidelines for the development and evaluation of complex nursing interventions, this proves to be challenging in methodological terms. Recently, theory-based evaluation approaches have also been proposed in nursing research as a promising possibility for further development and as an alternative to traditional research designs. However, these are considered to be particularly demanding in conceptual terms and should therefore not be adopted without thorough examination.

Aim: The aim of this dissertation is to conduct a critical analysis of theory-based evaluation as a methodology for advancing knowledge in nursing-related impact research. It questions the extent to which nursing interventions can be conceptualised as a social programme, as assumed in theory-based evaluation. Furthermore, the question of the programmatic or planned character of nursing care, which is characterised by implicit knowledge, is investigated. Furthermore, it will be examined how programme theory, and thus the central feature of theory-based evaluation, can be constructed and used as a heuristic instrument for the evaluation of nursing interventions. To answer the research questions, a methodological analysis is conducted by reconstructing research practices in relation to complex care interventions. This is followed by a critical appraisal and suggestions for improved practice in care-related impact research.