FACTORS INFLUENCING NURSES' PARTICIPATION IN CLINICAL RESEARCH: A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY IN HOSPITAL PUTRAJAYA,MALAYSIA

Abstract

Background: The Malaysian nurses encounter many barriers in their involvement in clinical research [and also in research utilization (RU)]. Objective: This cross-sectional survey utilized a self-administered questionnaire within a study population of the Malaysian nurses working in a government hospital to determine the level of involvement of nurses in clinical research at Hospital Putrajaya from May to August 2015, which led to an assessment of the level of association between a list of pre-specified demographic and job-related characteristics and the involvement of nurses in clinical research, in order to identify any plausible factors which might have an association with either facilitating or hindering these nurses from their involvement in clinical research. Methods: After having prepared and validated the self-administered questionnaires for this study, they were then distributed to a total of 406 nurses working in Hospital Putrajaya. This self-administered questionnaire was specifically designed to achieve the objectives of this study which aimed to collect the baseline socio-demographic information of the respondents, and also information pertaining to their nursing practice and their participation in activities that were related to nursing research. Results: This study had provided some valuable insights into several plausible factors that were associated with the low level of involvement of Malaysian nurses in clinical research. Conclusion: The study provides valuable information for formulating strategies to increase nurses' participation in research activities at Hospital Putrajaya by providing more research training opportunities and enhancing the level of awareness and increasing the accessibility to these resources by the nurses.