Factors associated with the use of research-based knowledge in nursing.

Abstract

Despite a long recognized need for scientifically based practice, the nursing profession continues to experience a gap between the generation of clinically relevant research-based knowledge and its actual use in practice. The purpose of this study was to exp and existing knowledge of research utilization in nursing by exploring factors associated with utilization of research-based knowledge in clinical practice. Focus of the study was on the extent to which research utilization is influenced by: personal and professional characteristics of the user; characteristics of the knowledge; individual and organizational change factors; organizational context; and research utilization outcomes. These variables comprise the conceptual framework which guided this study. The data analyzed were as subset of data collected in a larger research utilization study. Interviews were conducted with 74 registered nurses who had participated in two approaches commonly used for accessing research-based knowledge: attending research conferences (N = 34) and reading research-based literature (N = 40). Two structured telephone interviews were employed, using the Research Utilization Survey Instrument. This instrument contained 39 measures of aspects of the above concepts; for all but 6 of the 32 scales for which internal consistency was expected, Cronbach's alpha ranged from.70 to.94. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Employing hierarchical multiple regression analyses, seven key predictor variables (education, change experience, research experience, cosmopoliteness, opinion leadership, individual change factors, and organizational change factors) were examined to determine their influence on three research utilization outcomes: use of new knowledge for patient care, generalized use of new knowledge, and use of research methods in practice. The seven predictor variables accounted for only a small and insignificant amount of variance in use of new knowledge for patient care, a modest but significant amount of variance in generalized use of new knowledge, and the largest amount of variance in use of research methods in practice. Organizational factors were more influential than individual factors for all three outcomes. Nurses in the research publication group used their knowledge behaviorally more than did nurses in the research conference group. For both groups, the knowledge was used for patient care purposes more cognitively than behaviorally.