Promoting Nursing Research on SDGs, Sri Lanka
Through inter-sectoral collaboration and sound public-private partnerships, empowerment and capacity building for nurses can be achieved despite lack of resources and facilities.
On 19 November 2016, the International Institute of Health Sciences (IIHS) in Sri Lanka held its annual 10th Bio Inquirer International Research Conference themed around the 17 SDGs. Bio Inquirer” essentially serves as an incubator where national and international knowledge and evidence based practice is presented, retained and dispensed for future generations. The conference targets health professionals, but due to limited access to academic and research workshops, nursing students in the government training schools do not have the opportunity to excel in research or to present at national or conferences.
Members of the IIHS Nursing Faculty decided to provide nurses with the opportunity to formulate an evidence framework for SDGs and present at the conference. They initiated a “Research Roadshow” where qualified nurses from the institute alongside medical doctors, academics and students from the IIHS Scientific Committee visited 14 government Nursing Training Schools to conduct workshops on research in order to prepare them for the Bio Inquirer conference. This initiative was launched to generate evidence creating research data based on the SDGs and also to allow nursing students in rural and urban Sri Lanka to be empowered through continuing professional development for no cost.
In two months, approximately 2000 nursing students in the Sri Lankan public sector where they gained sound awareness on SDGs. In addition, approximately 80 nursing students presented the findings on their research related to the SDGs at the Bio Inquirer conference.