27 April 2015 – A workshop organized by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Development at the College of Health Sciences at the University of Bahrain, in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office, brought together 40 nursing leaders to determine nursing research priorities from 9 to 10 February 2015. The meeting also discussed the establishment of a national nursing research network.

Representatives from a broad range of nursing fields – practice, policy, research and education from both the public and private sector – identified the following key thematic areas for nursing research: practice; education; regulation; workforce; and services. Key research issues were discussed extensively.

Several background documents were used to guide the discussions, including: the Bahrain national research strategy, the Gulf Cooperation Council nursing strategic directions (governance, education, human resources, research and services development) and WHO's regional nursing strategic directions. Identification of the main issues is key to generating research questions as the work advances.

It was also agreed to establish a national research network to be hosted by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Development at the College of Health Sciences. It was recommeneded that a small task force prepare a proposal for the establishment of a Bahrain nursing research network. The Director of the Bahrain Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Development Mrs Fatima Jamali will oversee this and subsequent activities.  The work will be closely followed up by the WHO Regional Office and it is anticipated that the network will be fully functional by mid-2016.