How, and under what contexts, do academic–practice partnerships collaborate to implement healthcare improvement education into preregistration nursing curriculums: a realist review protocol

INTRODUCTION: Internationally, healthcare improvement remains a clinical and educational priority. Consensus in Europe, Canada and the USA to implement quality improvement (QI) education into preregistration nursing curricula ensures students become equipped with the skills and knowledge required to improve practice. Now, New Zealand and Australia are beginning to implement QI education into their nursing curricula. However, QI education is complex; comprising multiple components, each influenced by the contexts under which they are developed and implemented. Evaluation studies of QI education unanimously acknowledge that academic and practice partnerships (APPs) are essential to optimally embed QI into preregistration curricula, yet it is not understood how, and under what contexts, APPs collaborate to achieve this. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A realist review to determine how, and under what contexts, APPs collaborate to implement QI education in pre-registration nursing will be conducted using the Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards Guidelines. International stakeholders will be consulted at each stage which includes (1) clarifying the scope of the review through empirical literature and tacit expert knowledge, (2) searching for evidence in healthcare and social science databases/grey literature, (3) appraising studies using the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre weight of evidence framework and extracting data using Standards for QUality Improvement Reporting Excellence in Education Publication Guidelines, (4) synthesising evidence and drawing conclusions through the creation of context, mechanism and outcome configurations and (5) disseminating findings through conferences and peer-reviewed publications. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval was not required for this study. Findings will be disseminated to international nurse educators, leaders and front-line staff implementing QI education within their own academic and practice contexts through conferences and peer-reviewed publications. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021282424.