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Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to know the important factors associated with the research utilization competency.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to know the Self-Evaluation Scale on Research Utilization Competency and the way of using it.
Methods: The Self-Evaluation Scale on Research Utilization Competency for Clinical Nurses (SRUC) was used to measure the research utilization competency in nursing practice. It has 35 items with 5-point Likert scale and 6 subscales. The items of the SRUC describe the essential behaviors necessary for research utilization in nursing practice as identified by a qualitative study. The reliability and validity of the SRUC are well-established. The Nurses’ Attributes Questionnaire (NAQ) was used to examine the 28 attributes of nurses. The content validity was established by a pilot study and a panel of experts. The instrument packets were distributed to 860 nurses working at 38 randomly sampled hospitals in Japan. The answers were returned by mail and they were analyzed statistically.
Results: Four-hundred and forty seven nurses (52.0%) responded, and 403 valid data were analyzed. The mean age of the participants was 38.2 (SD=8.7) years old, and the mean number of years of clinical experiences was 15.7 (SD=8.5). The results showed that 19 attributes significantly related to the research utilization competency of nurses (p<.05). A stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted in order to identify the important factors for the research utilization competency. The results indicated that the research utilization competency had a strong relationship with 6 of 19 attributes (adjusted R2=.350, F=27.185,p<.001), and ‘knowledge of nursing research’ was the most important factor among them (Beta=.209, p<.001) and ‘having enough opportunity to participate in in-service education’ (Beta=.191, p<.001) was the next most important.
Conclusion: It is important for nurses to learn about nursing research, in order to improve their research utilization competency which leads to quality nursing practice. Improvement of in-service education in each hospital may contribute it to better quality nursing practice.
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