Nurses, it is argued, should participate in interdisciplinary research, yet there is little written about working in an interdisciplinary environment in research. This paper sets out some reflections on the experience of a nurse and a health economist working together on a series of studies. A number of difficulties are identified as themes running through the experience of interdisciplinary research: evaluating complex interventions, disruption of normal academic and scientific life, competition between disciplines and teams, finding a common language and learning to work together, finding the common ground and mutual self-interest, and learning to respect other perspectives and disciplines. Rosenfield's (1992) taxonomy of cross-disciplinary research is presented as a model to explain the development of our own approach. A commitment to the goal of transdisciplinarity in research is suggested.
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