Nurses' attitudes toward nursing research at a metropolitan medical center

Abstract

To support the implementation of a nursing research initiative in a large medical center, we collected baseline data on nurses' attitudes toward nursing research, perception of the institution as a research environment, and personal involvement in research activities. This study replicates that conducted by Rizzuto, Bostrom, Suter, and Chenitz [Predictors of nurses' involvement in research activities. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 16(2), 193-204] in 1994. To better understand the findings, we traced the historical evolution of nursing research through successive American Nurses Association codes of ethics. Our review of the literature presents (in table format) factors that encourage and those that impede nursing research. The study results validate the work of other researchers: nurses' positive attitudes toward research are discordant with their actual involvement in research activities. The data suggest that positive attitudes and perceived institutional support are not enough to increase involvement in nursing research; as such, we describe additional institutional infrastructure and forms of educational support.