ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the trends and activities in nursing research in primary care, drawing on insights from history, literature and personal experience. It identifies the political and professional context in which research takes place in primary care and the position of nursing within it. Issues such as research training, funding opportunities, and the implications for nursing of policies supporting evidence-based practice and cross-professional boundary work are addressed. Nursing in primary healthcare covers a wide range of activities embracing generalists and specialists. This heterogeneity is reflected in the different origins, roles, activities, structures and power relationships within the nursing system. The work is invisible, the patient/client groups are often at the margins, or displaced, and the work may be episodic, long-term and incorporate social as well as family care. Research in nursing is young, diverse and eclectic in terms of its underpinning disciplines and the focus.
