• Lesley Dibley, Palle Bager, Wladyslawa Czuber-Dochan, Dawn Farrell, Lars-Petter Jelsness-Jørgensen, Karen Kemp, and Christine Norton.
• Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, King's College London, London, UK.
• J Crohns Colitis. 2017 Mar 1; 11 (3): 353-359.

BackgroundRobust research evidence should inform clinical practice of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] specialist nurses, but such research is currently very limited. With no current agreement on research priorities for IBD nursing, this survey aimed to establish topics to guide future IBD nursing research across Europe.MethodsAn online modified Delphi survey with nurse and allied health professional members of the Nurses European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation [n = 303] was conducted. In Round One, participants proposed topics for research. In Round Two, research topics were rated on a 1-9 scale and subsequently synthesised to create composite research questions. In Round Three, participants selected their top five research questions, rating these on a 1-5 scale.ResultsRepresenting 13 European countries, 88, 90 and 58 non-medical professionals, predominantly nurses, responded to Rounds One, Two and Three, respectively. In Round One, 173 potential research topics were suggested. In Rounds Two And Three, responders voted for and prioritised 125 and 44 questions, respectively. Round Three votes were weighted [rank of 1 = score of 5], reflecting rank order. The top five research priorities were: interventions to improve self-management of IBD; interventions for symptoms of frequency, urgency and incontinence; the role of the IBD nurse in improving patient outcomes and quality of life; interventions to improve IBD fatigue; and care pathways to optimise clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction.ConclusionsThe prioritised list of topics gives clear direction for future IBD nursing research. Conducting this research has potential to improve clinical practice and patient-reported outcomes.Copyright © 2016 European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

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