Research Capacity and Culture on Nurses' Evidence-Based Practice Implementation

The research-to-practice gap often occurs when evidence-based practice (EBP) is inadequately implemented into clinical practice. Nurses are critical to bridging the gap in EBP implementation (EBPI) and identifying effective strategies to promote its use in practice; however, they need a supportive work environment to develop the necessary research capacity/culture (RCC).

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between nurses' perceptions of individual RCC and EBPI, team RCC and EBPI, and health care organization RCC and EBPI, adjusting for educational background, health care organization setting, and health care organization type.

Survey data were collected from 175 nurses across the United States using a prospective cross-sectional study design. The Research Capacity in Context (RCC) tool and EBPI scale were used to measure nurses' perception of RCC and nurses' EBPI, respectively. Simple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between organizational, team, and individual RCC and EBPI. Multiple linear regression was used to adjust for pertinent participant demographics.

The results of this study indicated that organization (R² = 0.033, p = 0.016), team (R² = 0.064, p < 0.001), and individual (R² = 0.155, p < 0.001) RCC were significantly associated with nurse EBPI. Moreover, findings remained significant after adjusting for educational background, health care organization setting, and type. The regression model suggested that education significantly predicted EBPI (R² = 0.142, p < 0.001).

These results emphasize the importance of building RCC in health care organizations, as it can be an effective strategy to increase nurses' EBPI, which has been shown to impact patient outcomes directly. Future research should identify strategies to assist organizations and leadership in building RCC among nurses.