TY - JOUR T1 - What is realist evaluation? JF - Evidence Based Nursing JO - Evid Based Nurs SP - 111 LP - 113 DO - 10.1136/ebnurs-2022-103608 VL - 25 IS - 4 AU - Kathryn Jack Y1 - 2022/10/01 UR - http://ebn.bmj.com/content/25/4/111.abstract N2 - A frequent conundrum faced by nurses when implementing research findings and developing new interventions is that their patients, staff and sociocultural environment may be quite different from those in the original studies. Therefore, implementing and evaluating new interventions may need a carefully thought out and creative approach. One such approach is realist evaluation (RE). This paper will give an overview of RE and how this methodology can be used to support nurses when evaluating the implementation of evidence-based care.RE is a research methodology, otherwise known as a system of enquiry, that provides a framework for conducting an evaluation of a healthcare intervention.1 An RE approach enables researchers to develop theories about how their intervention works by asking ‘What works for whom, in what circumstances, in what respects, and how?’ (Pawson and Tilley, p2).2 This contrasts with traditional approaches to evaluations which simply measure and report the results without considering the environment, culture or what the human behaviours and emotional reactions between the intervention and outcome may be. This style of evaluation has been described as a ‘black box’, meaning that the inner workings are hidden from view.3 The RE approach is a ‘clear box’ evaluation where in addition to the outcomes, the processes of how the intervention has worked, in terms of peoples’ actions and reactions, … ER -