NURSING AND HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT AND POLICY The impact of research governance in healthcare and higher education organizations Michelle L. Howarth MSc RGN PGCHE Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Salford, Manchester, UK Rosie Kneafsey BSc RGN PGCHE Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Salford, Manchester, UK Accepted for publication 5 July 2004 Correspondence: Michelle Howarth, School of Nursing, University of Salford, Albert Street, Eccles, Manchester M30 0NN, UK. E-mail: m.l.howarth2@salford.ac.uk HOWARTH M.L. & KNEAFSEY R. (2005) HOWARTH M.L. & KNEAFSEY R. (2005) Journal of Advanced Nursing 49(6), 675–683 The impact of research governance in healthcare and higher education organizations Aim. This paper reports a study exploring the impact and implementation of research governance in the North West region of England. Background. In 2001, the UK Government launched a framework to ensure the governance of research within the National Health Service. Whilst this framework was undoubtedly geared towards improving the standards and practice of research, concerns have been raised in the academic literature about the potentially negative impact on future research. Methods. A mixed method approach, using questionnaires (n ¼ 350), semi-struc- tured interviews and focus groups with a volunteer sample, was used to explore research staff perspectives about research governance. Survey data were analysed using Microsoft Excel, and a thematic analysis was used to elicit themes from the semi-structured interviews. The study lasted for 12 months and used a range of study sites, giving insight into potentially different experiences or approaches to implementing the research governance framework. Findings. Questionnaire data revealed a good level of awareness about the Research Governance Framework. However, a range of concerns was also raised, such as the increased workload associated with the research governance application process and lack of transparency about the process. Five themes emerged from the focus groups: control, epistemology, organizational issues, impact on teaching and learning, and ambiguity in the definitions of research and audit. Conclusions. Recommendations emerging from the study include the promotion of transparent research governance guidelines for practitioners, and the need for staff education about governance processes and greater parity between organizations in research governance processes. Keywords: research governance, ethics committees, research methodologies, policy, nursing Background This article reports a one-year study which explored the implementation and impact of research governance in health and higher education organizations. The impetus for this project was threefold. Whilst the Research Governance Framework introduced by the United Kingdom (UK) Government (Department of Health 2001) was undoubtedly geared towards improving the standards and practice of research a number of issues had arisen. One concern was that Ó 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 675