Research Utilization Barriers Perceived By Nurses In The Emergency Department

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative, descriptive study is to explore and describe Emergency Department nurses' perceived barriers to research utilization. The setting of this study takes place in the Emergency Department of a community hospital in North Central Texas. The BARRIERS to Research Utilization Scale (Funk, Champagne, Wiese, & Tornquist, 1991a) was the questionnaire used in this study. Sixteen completed questionnaires were obtained.

The greatest barrier identified by this sample was that nurses do not feel they have enough authority to affect change, which is the same primary barrier found by Funk, Champagne, Wiese, and Tornquist in 1991. Implications for future research studies include a larger scale study with a larger sample size. Understanding the perceived barriers to research utilization can help decrease these barriers and promote the use of research in nursing practice.