Philosophically nurses know that research is important to clinical
practice. In a recent study by Donna Jo McClosky, nurses agreed that
research helps to build a scientific knowledge base for practice and
that research is needed to continually improve nursing practice.
Nurses would even change their practice based on research findings.
Yet, those same nurses that were surveyed stated that nursing
research is not conducted in their hospital and that occupational
therapists and physical therapists would not support their use of
clinical research; nor would nurses support the use of research
findings for their peers.

Most nurses also said that they did not have access to research
findings at work and that there were no in-service programs presented
on research findings at their hospital. There was also the feeling
that there was no time to read about research at work and that
colleagues didn't bring current research to the attention of staff
nurses.

As a staff nurse, these findings should make you a little
uncomfortable. If, as the survey indicates, research is important to
your practice, then you ought to be finding ways to bring research to
work to share with your colleagues; and to base your practice on
research principles.

As an educator or manager, understand that many nurses in the
clinical setting do not see evidence of your dedication to
integrating research into practice and that your institution needs to
make sure that research efforts are visible and that the results of
both internal and external research needs to be clearly evident to
the nurse practicing at the bedside.

From: McClosky, D.J. (2008). Nurses' perceptions of research
utilization in a corporate healthcare system. Journal of Nursing
Scholarship 40:1039-45.

Best wishes,
David W. Woodruff, MSN, RN, CNS, CEN
President, Ed4Nurses, Inc.
www.Ed4Nurses.com