Nursing in France is undergoing a transition. In 2009, the preregistration nursing education program was reformed in line with the European Bologna Process, bringing nursing education to the universities. In 2010, the French Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Infirmière, the first national French nursing research funding program, was launched by the French Health Ministry. Of the 149 French research proposals submitted by registered nurses in 2010 and 2011, 13 were mixed-method proposals. The registered nurse principal investigator argued for a complementary use of qualitative and quantitative methods. These trends highlight major issues regarding mixed-method and nursing research. We can reasonably assume that mixed-method research has a broad appeal for nurse scholars, particularly for the exploration of complex phenomena related to nursing. Moreover, the recent movement in the domain of nursing education and research experienced in France highlights the need for dedicated research education in the development of nursing research capacity.
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