Cardiac nurses' perceptions of nursing research

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Healthcare Research

Background:

• Nurses' perceptions of nursing research are crucial for developing clinical nursing research programs.
• Understanding these perceptions influences research integration into practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine cardiac nurses' perceptions of nursing research value, role, interest, support, and experience.
• To determine the influence of age and education level on these perceptions.
• To analyze the reliability and validity of Alcock et al.'s questionnaire.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to 313 cardiac nurses, achieving a 46% response rate.
• Statistical analyses included frequency distributions, Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).
• Cronbach's reliability coefficient was used to assess internal consistency.

Main Results:

• Nurses perceived nursing research as valuable for clinical practice decisions and patient care problem-solving.
• Nurses saw a participatory role in the initial stages of the research process.
• Diploma nurses reported higher perceived value, role, interest, and support for nursing research than baccalaureate nurses; age was not a significant factor except for perceived support.
• The questionnaire demonstrated high internal consistency (> 0.72) and validity after minor revisions.

Conclusions:

• Cardiac nurses recognize the importance of nursing research, particularly for clinical application.
• Educational background, specifically diploma versus baccalaureate preparation, significantly impacts nurses' perceptions of nursing research.
• The revised Alcock et al. questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool for assessing nurses' perceptions of research.