Research awareness among children's nurses: An integrative review

Background Developing nursing research skills, awareness and research utilisation are important for improving healthcare outcomes and are key to ensuring the full understanding and knowledge base necessary for optimal delivery of care. Nevertheless, little is known about research awareness in children's nurses. Aims and objectives To address this issue, an integrative literature review was conducted for studies published between January 2007 and January 2017 to obtain up-to-date evidence about the extent of research awareness and utilisation among children's nurses. Methods Using PubMed, Cochrane Library, ILISI and CINAHL databases, 21 studies related to children's nurses' research awareness were included in the final review, which was later developed and structured in keeping with PRISMA checklist and guidelines. Conclusions The studies isolated show that nurses' knowledge about and utilisation of research vary and that there are many existent barriers to and facilitators of evidence-based practice in the paediatric setting. Some studies report that introducing a cultural and/or change in clinical practice change to improve research utilisation can have positive impacts on healthcare outcomes and the quality of nursing care of children. It is recommended that structured approaches to improving research utilisation be considered and additional research is needed to explore the benefits of these approaches. Relevance to clinical practice Despite more than three decades of the evidence-based practice movement within nursing, barriers still exist among children's nurses in the use of research in practice. If the use of research to improve the delivery of children's nursing care is to become a reality, then nurses' research awareness needs to improve to underpin care delivery with optimal evidence in a cohesive informed manner.