Research utilization and clinical nurse educators: a systematic review

Abstract

Few studies have examined clinical nurse educators and the determinants of their research utilization behaviour in clinical practice. Future research on clinical nurse educators needs to focus on the outcomes of research utilization, including the effectiveness of their role as facilitators and the contexts in which they practice.

Defining knowledge translation

“…[14][15][16][17][18] A common challenge that all decision-makers (i.e., clinicians, patients, managers, policy-makers) face relates to the lack of skills in knowledge management and infrastructure (i.e., the sheer volume of research evidence currently produced, access to research evidence, time to read and the skills to appraise, understand and apply research evidence). For example, if a general internist wanted to keep abreast of the primary clinical literature relevant to this field, she would need to read 17 articles daily.…”

“…20 Lack of skills needed for appraising evidence has been a challenge to all stakeholder groups because, until recently, this skill set has not been a traditional component of most educational curricula. 21,22 For example, Sekimoto and colleagues 23 found that physicians in their study believed a lack of evidence for the effectiveness of a treatment was equivalent to the treatment being ineffective. Similarly, in another study, public health decision-makers identified a lack of skill in critical appraisal of evidence.…”

Knowledge translation is the use of knowledge in health care decision making

“…A common challenge that all decision makers face relates to the lack of knowledge management skills and infrastructure (the huge volume of research evidence currently produced, access to research evidence, time to read and skills to appraise, understand and apply research evidence) [14,17]. Better knowledge management is necessary, but this is insufficient to ensure effective knowledge translation, given other challenges that may operate at different levels including the health care system (e.g., financial disincentives), health care organization (e.g., lack of equipment or personnel), health care teams (e.g., local standards of care not aligned with recommended practice), individual health care professionals (e.g., knowledge, attitudes, and skills), and patients (e.g., low adherence to recommendations) [18].…”

Conducting a best evidence systematic review. Part 1: From idea to data coding. BEME Guide No. 13

“…Example one Milner et al (2006) report that for their systematic review of the literature regarding clinical nurse educators and research utilization, they used a framework that attempts to describe the complexity of the topic under review. The following quote explains how they used the framework and the reviewers go on to identify how their results did and did not map onto this framework and the utility of this exercise.…”