Papers presented by nurses at scientific events in Turkey

Abstract

This study, which originated from the observation that the rate of participation in scientific events by nurses working in the field as well as that of academician nurses had gradually increased, was a definitive, record-scanning study made with the objective of examining the papers presented by nurses at scientific meetings between 1985 and 2003. Nursing research has become an increasingly important factor in the efforts devoted to making nursing an academic profession. The development of nursing research in different countries has been influenced by various factors. While there is a long tradition of nursing research in some other countries, the history of nursing research in Turkey is shorter. The environment of this research was formed from papers included in books and summary booklets of scientific meetings in which nurses participated between 1985 and 2003. 2,843 papers, contained in 80 scientific activity books and summary booklets, formed the sampling of the research. When the year-to-year distribution of authors who presented papers was examined, it was found that while there was an increase in the proportion of papers presented by nurses alone, by nurses and academician nurses, or by nurses and members of other disciplines, there was a decrease in the proportion of papers submitted by academician nurses. The results of this study show that nurses have contributed to the process of professionalizing nursing and are accepted by other members of the health team.