Perspectives on the Eureka! Program Susan E. French, O.C, Ph.D. Consultant, Newton Foundation In many disciplines, the increasing divide between research and practice has generated interest in finding means of ensuring that service providers are making evidenceinformed decisions based on the most up-to-date information generated through rigorous scientific research. Common strategies include inclusion of practitioners as members of research team, use of knowledge-brokers to assist in keeping practitioners up-to date, and professional development activities such as workshops and conferences directed toward acquisition of evidence-based practice skills. One strategy that is receiving greater attention is mentoring practitioners to conduct small scale but rigorous research on problems or issues arising in their daily practice for which no answers are available. In 2000, Richard Ingram, Newton Foundation, provided monies to UTS for the establishment of the Eureka! Program. The Nursing Research Centre, McGill University Heath Centre (MUHC) under the leadership of Judith Rithchie, PhD (Nursing) and with co-funding from Newton Foundation and the Montreal General Foundation provided a Eureka! program for nurses in health services at MUHC. Modeled after the UTS program, that program had distinctive characteristics: there was an annual competition; applicants with the guidance of nurse researchers acting as mentors prepared and submitted proposals for the study of problems arising from the applicants’ clinical practice; all proposals were reviewed, rated and ranked by a panel of experts; and, each year, one Eureka! Fellow was
selected and given one year release time to work under the direction of a nurse scientist to obtain ethical approval , carry out the study and to report findings. Presentation at a scientific conference and publication in a referred journal were expected. That program was highly successful in generating new knowledge that was incorporated into practice leading to enhanced patient/family care/ outcomes as well as increasing the selfesteem of the practitioners. Information from the Eureka! program at the MUHC, Montreal was brought to the discussion of Phase 2 of the Eureka! program at UTS. It was my great privilege to have the opportunity to monitor the Eureka! program at the MUHC in Montreal as well as and Phase 2 of the program at UTS. Each program reflected 9