Barriers to Research Utilization in Clinical Practice

Abstract

Background;

Studies have consistently demonstrated that nurses are increasingly recognizing the role research has to play in their daily practice. Despite this recognition the actual application of research findings in the clinical setting is still poor.

Aim:

The aim in writing this article is to study if the literature reveals any evidence that support certain barriers due to research utilization and make some suggestions in minimizing the barriers.

Methods:

This paper reviews articles from 1995–2005 concerning barriers to research utilization in clinical setting. About 262 articles form scientific nursing journals and allied health field were read and analyzed. 35 are cited in this article

Results:

Single barriers has little or no impact on research utilization. Barriers are complex and connected to both organizational, educational and personal characteristics. Interestingly, the findings also indicates that the same top barriers are ranked very similar across countries.

Conclusions:

Albeit some shortcoming methodological issues, the findings should be applicable to many clinical setting. A Nordic study, using BARRIERS scale, would be of great interest, as reforms in nursing education towards a higher academic standard have been going on in all the Nordic countries for the last decade.