Nurses' Perception of Barriers to Research Utilization

Lee, Eun Hyun; Kim, Hae Suk

Abstract

The present study is a descriptive study to investigate nurses'perception of barriers to research utilization. A total of 274 participants in this study consisted of registered nurses working in a large, urban and academic medical center. A questionnaire packet containing the Barriers Scale, and a demographic profile was distributed to nurses and they were asked to return the packet to a return-box in the Nursing Office after completion. The greatest barrier was insufficient time on the job to implement new ideas. Next was `implications for practice are not made clear'. Also the item of the English language in research articles was considered to be the ninth barrier. The greatest mean score of each of the sub-scales was the communication factor. The were followed by the organization, research, and nurse factors. Compared with the means from other studies, the mean scores of the communication and research factors were higher in this study. Nurses who had not taken a class of research methods found the communication and research factors as a higher barrier than those who did. Also, nurses who did not participate in a conference last year perceived the research factor as higher than those who did. It is recommended that English and research classes should be strengthened in educational nursing programs. The researchers should also describe the section of implication for practice as more detail and clearer for the understanding of nurses; Lastly journals in a libraries or online journal systems should be easily accessible.