Content area
Full Text
KEY WORDS
Evidence based practice, nurses, health organisations, research, eHealth
ABSTRACT
Background
There is little evidence of the prevalence of research driven evidence based practice (EBP) or the supportive nature of organisations in a rural Australian setting.
Objective
The aim of this paper is to identify the research capacity and value of research that translates to EBP in organisations in rural Victoria, Australia.
Design
A snowball technique was used for recruitment. Data was collected using a modified version of a survey originally developed by the Australian Nursing Federation to determine eHealth literacy. The survey was supplemented to measure respondent's perceptions relating to organisational research ability and value.
Setting
Hospitals, aged care facilities, and general practice surgeries.
Subjects
Nurses in rural Victoria, Australia.
Main outcome measures
Use of research, ability to locate and analyse research, to determine if research was valid, high quality, relevant and applicable, organisations value of research and EBP, linkage of research to quality care of organisation.
Results
Approximately a third of respondents report they have skilled stafffor research and evidence assessment. However more than 50% report limited time to research or gather evidence. Research is reported as a priority for the organisation by approximately 40% of respondents. The translation of research to EBP was noted by approximately 50% of respondents who report that decision makers in their organisations consider high quality relevant research when making choices about quality care activities.
Conclusions
This paper demonstrates a need to improve the ability to access quality research and to improve organisations uptake of research and its translation to EBP.
INTRODUCTION
The nursing profession makes up an integral part of the healthcare system. The healthcare system is under ever-increasing pressure from nurses and other healthcare practitioners to continually change and adapt as a result of the amount of new knowledge generated and reported through research. In response to these expectations, evidence-based practice (EBP) in nursing has evolved to encourage the reinforcement of interventions, new ideas in patient care, and enduring outcomes to benefit patients.
The last three decades have showcased the importance of EBP within the nursing profession (Winters et al 2007; Fink et al 2005; Olade 2004; Rycroft-Malone et al 2004; LeMay et al 1998). A huge emphasis has been placed on EBP in...