Research Utilization among Nurse Supervisors in Two Local Government Hospitals in Manila, Philippines

Abstract

A study on research utilization is sparse among Filipino nurses.  Many changes in the health and nursing care landscape require nurses to apply research findings to identify and solve clinical nursing problems. This study aims to identify the barriers to research utilization among nursing supervisors of two Manila City government-run hospitals. The descriptive study was conducted in January to April 2014 among the nursing supervisors of two city-run hospitals in Manila. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test differences between groups. Respondents perceive three components of the organization subscale as top barriers to research utilization in nursing practice namely: (1) facilities are inadequate for implementation, (2) another staff is not supportive of implementation, and (3) there is insufficient time on the job to implement new ideas. Meanwhile, four components of the communication subscale were considered as barriers to the least extent: (1) research reports/articles are not readily available, (2) statistical analyses are not understandable, (3) implications for practice are not clear’, and (4) ‘the research is not relevant to the nurse’s practice’. Respondent supervisors do not differ in their view of factors that affect research utilization. Replication of the study is recommended in the city’s four (4) other government-run hospitals. Keywords - Nursing, research utilization, Manila, nurse supervisors, descriptive