Health Services Researcher Pathway

Nurse Professional Development Tool: Research Competencies

Called the ‘Researcher Pathway’, a set of research competencies for nurses were developed by a research team supported by the BC Nursing Research Initiative through the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. 

These competencies articulate the knowledge, skills and attitudes nurses in varying positions require to engage with research activities such as using research findings into practice and actually conducting studies. These competencies are divided into 5 levels with three major areas: Research Process, Data Analysis Literacy, and Knowledge Translation activities. Nurses may use this tool as a  research user and research producer.

The professional development tool permits nurses to self-assess their research competencies and also provides links to web-based resources for review and self-study. This tool has been updated in August 2020 for currency and is presented for use of students and faculty.