Perceived Research Utilization Barriers among Nurses in a Rural Hospital in Nigeria

Background Nursing research utilization is the process of synthesizing, disseminating and using research generated knowledge to make significant impact on the existing nursing practice. Research utilization has been associated with high quality nursing practice. Despite availability of research findings and evidences, nurses have been faced with many barriers which hinder them from utilizing research knowledge in their practice. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perceived research utilization barriers among nurses in a community hospital in Nigeria and to assess the relationship between their perception and selected socio-demographic variables. Materials and method: This is a descriptive study. A total of 62 participants were included in the study through a convenient non probability sampling technique. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data on participants socio demographic variables with the BARRIER scale used to collect data on participants perception regarding research utilization Findings: The mean and standard deviation of participants age was 34.9 and ± 1.3 respectively. Majority of participants were females, diploma holders and had four or more years of working experience. The major barriers identified by the participants were issues with administration, lack of cooperation from physicians and lack of time to read research among nurses, insufficient time to implement changes and unwillingness to change or try new things. There was a statistically significant relationship between participants qualification and their perception of characteristics of the innovation/research as barrier to research utilization at χ (p value) of 8.315 (<0.001). Conclusion: Findings from this study revealed that the highly ranked barriers were based on the characteristics of the setting in which the nurses work as well as the nurses’ research values, skills and awareness. It is therefore recommended that healthcare institution should give the nurses to practice with the best evidences and not based on rituals. Institutional policies should be reviewed to favor the application of research in nursing practice and nurses should understand that research is an integral part of the profession.