LAUSR

Introduction: Evidence-Based Practice has long been recognized by the health care and nursing communities as best practice in delivering quality care and assuring positive patient outcomes. The Institute of Medicine has recommended that 90% of all clinical decisions be evidence based by 2020. Current literature identifies a variety of barriers to nurses’ participation in research. The identification of these barriers will enable perianesthesia nurses, as well as all nurses, to become active participants in nursing research. Identification of the problem:Despite the importance of Evidence-Based Practice and a supportive ResearchDepartment at New England Baptist Hospital, less than 5% of the nursing staff are actively participating in research. Purpose of the Study: As the Nursing Department moves towards Magnet certification, identifying barriers to nursing research, specific to this specialty institution, was determined to be of primary significance. Methodology: This was a cross sectional descriptive study at an orthopedic surgical hospital utilizing a demographic questionnaire and a Barriers to Research Utilization Scale developed by Dr. S. G. Funk. After permission was obtained, the questionnaire was distributed to all employed Registered Nurses (414) over a two week period. Discussion: A 51% response rate resulted which included 107 RNs from the PeriAnesthesia area. Results were categorized into fourdomains of influencewith theOrganizationbeing thehighest barrierwith aMean of 2.61, Communicationwith aMean of 2.37, Adopter Mean of 2.11 and Innovationwith a mean of 2.03. These four domains were further broken down into identified/specific barriers at the nurse level. Demographics showed barriers correlating to years of experience and level of nursing education. Conclusion: The Magnet Research Council is collaborating with amultidisciplinary team to create and implement an action plan to facilitate nurses’ engagement with nursing research. The specific areas of focus include: research education, perceptions of the individual nurse, and organizational restructuring. Interventions recently implemented have been monthly Nursing Case Reviews with an associated evidence based journal article, creation of an e-journal site and blog, creation of an academic partnership with a local college of nursing with faculty sitting on the Research Council and mentoring staff. Five new nursing research proposals are in the early stages for 2017, of which 2 are from the PeriAnesthesia areas. Implications for perianesthesia nurses and future research: The results from this study highlight areas to be targeted for education and intervention. Identification and alleviation of barriers in the perianesthesia setting will increase nursing research, as perianesthesia nurses are surrounded by a variety of research opportunities.