Free access. The number of manuscripts published in nursing journals described as ‘mixed methods’ has risen steadily in recent years (Lipscomb, 2008; Simons & Lathlean, 2010). Mixed methods research refers to research which integrates both qualitative and quantitative elements within a single study (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011; Wisdom, Cavaleri, Onwuegbuzie, & Green, 2012). This is beyond simply the inclusion of open ended questions in a survey tool or the collection of demographic data from interview participants, but rather involves the explicit integration of qualitative and quantitative elements in a single study. It is this integration that characterises the mixed methods approach, as distinct from a ‘combined approach’ whereby qualitative and quantitative elements are used together but not integrated.