Multicentre research and the WISECARE experience Nora Kearney MSc RGN Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Glasgow Morven Miller BA(Hons) MSc(Cancer Nursing) RGN Research Assistant, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Glasgow Walter Sermeus Professor of Nursing Research, Centre of Health Services Research and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Derek Hoy Bsc MSc RGN Research Fellow, Department of Nursing and Community Health, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland and Kris Vanhaecht MSc RGN Research Fellow, Centre of Health Services Research and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Accepted for publication 18 April 2000 KEARNEY KEARNEY N., MILLER MILLER M., SERMEUS SERMEUS W., HOY HOY D. & VANHAECHT VANHAECHT K. (2000) (2000) Journal of Advanced Nursing 32(4), 999±1007 Multicentre research and the WISECARE experience The bene®ts of collaborative research are becoming recognized increasingly within the profession of nursing due to the associated increased likelihood of funding, variety of practice settings and increased access to resources that collaboration brings. While such bene®ts have made collaborative research one of the most desirable strategies for achieving the goals of research, the potential problems of language and communication, culturally sensitive instruments, access to subjects, availability of technology and lack of research resources have complicated collaborative international research initiatives. Review of the literature, although encouraging such initiatives, does little to provide infor- mation regarding the processes involved in multinational collaboration or the associated advantages and disadvantages to guide those embarking on such large scale, multinational, cross-cultural studies. The diverse meanings of collaboration within research initiatives further hamper this understanding. Positive de®nitions focus on aspects such as sharing expertise, making a valuable contribution to the research and ultimately shared ownership of the accomplishments of the research. One such research project led by nurses was the WISECARE project. WISECARE (Work¯ow Information Systems for Euro- pean Nursing Care) was funded by the European Commission and aimed to Correspondence: Nora Kearney, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Glasgow, 68 Oak®eld Avenue, Glasgow G12 8LS, Scotland. Ó 2000 Blackwell Science Ltd 999 Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2000, 32(4), 999±1007 Methodological issues in nursing research