Adoption of research findings by frontline health care providers is often elusive. This project set out to assess the barriers that preclude nurses working in a rural hospital setting from using research in everyday practice and to assess uptake and awareness of one specific research-based initiative. The assessment of perceived barriers was accomplished using the BARRIERS to Research Utilization Scale (Funk et al., 1991). The top three perceived barriers were: lack of physician cooperation with implementation, lack of time to read research, and lack of authority to change patient care procedures. Questions regarding the specific research-based initiative showed greater than half of the respondents were unaware or minimally aware of the selected initiative or any related action. Implications include importance of assessment and dialogue regarding research barriers at worksites and a role for ongoing evaluation throughout initiative implementation to increase awareness and successful uptake of research findings in daily practice.
