BARRIERS AND PERCEIVED NEEDS FOR UNDERSTANDING AND USING RESEARCH AMONG EMERGENCY NURSES Authors: Garrett K. Chan, PhD, APRN, FPCN, FAEN, Susan Barnason, PhD, RN, APRN-CNS, CEN, CCRN, Cynthia L. Dakin, PhD, RN, Gordon Gillespie, PhD, RN, CEN, FAEN, Mary C. Kamienski, PhD, APRN, FAEN, Stephen Stapleton, PhD, RN, CEN, Jennifer Williams, MSN, RN, CEN, Altair Juarez, MPH, and Suling Li, PhD, RN, San Francisco, CA Earn Up to 11.0 Hours. See page 116. Introduction: Nurses are involved in conducting research and incorporating evidence into their practice. However, barriers exist at the individual, unit, and organizational level related to understanding, conducting, and evaluating the evidence. The Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) conducted a study to understand levels of education in research, the extent of experience, and needs and barriers to research at the individual and organizational levels in emergency nursing. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used to poll members of the ENA. A 62-item survey instrument was designed to assess five areas: 1) nurses’ research values, skills, experience, and awareness; 2) organizational settings’ opportunities, barriers, and limitations to research; 3) nurses' understanding and comprehension of research and evidence; 4) presentation and accessibility of research; and 5) continuing educational topics to improve knowledge of the research process. Results: Respondents (n = 948) identified barriers at the individual level that included lack of knowledge about critiquing research studies and familiarity with the research process. Barriers at the unit level included obtaining help from administrators and other staff in starting a project or having the authority to change practice. Barriers at the institution level included lack of support systems such as protected time to conduct research or implement changes in practice. Discussion: Emergency nurses are highly motivated and interested in learning more about conducting and utilizing research to improve practice. Perceived personal, unit-based, and organizational barriers were identified through this research in an effort to highlight areas for improvement at the local and national levels. U nderstanding and using nursing research comprise an essential step in the process for research utili- zation and implementation of evidence-based practice. Nurses are more interested in conducting research and incorporating evidence into their clinical practice. Fac- tors contributing to this increased interest include the need for nursing research activities to meet requirements for Magnet recognition, 1 nursing interest in grounding their practices in evidence shown to be beneficial, and the testing of protocols developed to ensure or increase Garrett K. Chan, Member, Loma Prieta Chapter, is Lead Advanced Practice Nurse, Stanford Hospital & Clinics, and Associate Clinical Professor, University of California, San Francisco, CA. Susan Barnason, Member, Nebraska Chapter, is Professor of Nursing, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing, Omaha, NE. Cynthia L. Dakin, Member, Connecticut Chapter, is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Nursing Studies, Elms College, Chicopee, MA. Gordon Gillespie, Member, Greater Cincinnati Chapter, is an Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH. Mary C. Kamienski, Member, Northern New Jersey Chapter, is Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs and Associate Professor, University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ. Stephen Stapleton, Member, Illinois State Council, is an Assistant Professor at the Mennonite College of Nursing, Illinois State University, Normal, IL. Jennifer Williams, Member, Greater St. Louis Chapter, Clinical Nurse Specialist Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, MO. Altair Juarez is Senior Research Associate, Emergency Nurses Association. Suling Li is the Director of the Institute for Emergency Nursing Research, Emergency Nurses Association. For correspondence, write: Suling Li, RN, PhD, Department of Research, Emergency Nurses Association, 915 Lee St, Des Plaines, IL 60016-6569; E-mail: res@ena.org. J Emerg Nurs 2011;37:24-31. 0099-1767/$36.00 Copyright © 2011 Emergency Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi: 10.1016/j.jen.2009.11.016 RESEARCH 24 JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING VOLUME 37 • ISSUE 1 January 2011