Environmental scan of resources for the creation of a Nursing Knowledge Network-Summary Report

The growing global movement of internationalization in universities stimulated the idea of building the Nursing Knowledge Network (NKN) as a collective and innovative work. A work whose primary interest is all forms of nursing knowledge. International collaboration has become increasingly important for the formation of a global and supportive community in knowledge sharing (Beaver, 2001; Gheno et al., 2020). The internationalization of Science and Technology is considered a necessary condition for the development of scientific practice, as well as a means for improving the quality of knowledge production in the formation of human resources, in the circulation of information, and in the projection of research results (Red Iberoamericana de Indicadores de Ciência y Tecnología, 2007). Among these, intellectual capital is the most precious asset of institutions since it demands institutional and personal efforts and time to reach maturity.

This report presents a summary of the findings of a preliminary environmental scan of the intellectual capital, technical resources, and financial resources of universities, as well as infrastructure for the participation of the collaborating universities in the process of organization, structuring and future operationalization of the NKN. It should be noted that the resources reported in this work represent the perspective of the faculty who responded to the questionnaire. In this sense, they may not represent an official institutional response, the existing resources in their entirety, or characterize the collective thinking of their educators and researchers. 

Sixty invitation letters were sent, of which 42 were accepted, indicating a participation rate of 70% in the environmental scan. Questionnaires were created in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese, and shared online. Gathered information suggests there is a strong desire and need for continued research collaboration among international scientific communities that can help overcome language barriers and limitations imposed by financial restrictions. As well, it was found that policy, research promotion and development, and advances in research design and dissemination are needed to strengthen Nursing research. Based on this information, future exchanges of knowledge, through asynchronous means, without the need for simultaneous participation in the teaching-learning process, can occur. This will allow for collaboration between members located in low-, middle- and high-income countries. This baseline information suggests the possibility to exchange expertise, learn new alternatives for collaborative problem-solving techniques, and the production of many forms of knowledge rooted in local cultural and socioeconomic realities.