Positioning nursing and midwifery research for the future: external and internal challenges

In the past 25 years Australian nursing and midwifery have made remarkable professional strides. The professions have moved boldly to embrace university-based education, developed innovative postgraduate curricula and have engaged in innovative clinical-academic partnerships to build research and clinical scholarship (Borbasi, Emden & Jackson, 2005). During this time, nursing and midwifery have also faced a number of challenges. As we take stock of our place in history, it is clear that our future has never been so promising or so critical. In forecasting the future for nursing and midwifery research, it is helpful to acknowledge our history---but it is more important to imagine what is possible, build on our capabilities, and strategically map a direction. A tactical scan of the external and internal environments shaping our research reveals a number of pressure points and policy drivers