Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Dec 14, 2022
Date Accepted: Feb 16, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Utilisation of research in clinical nursing and midwifery practice in Ghana: protocol for a mixed-method study to develop a conceptual framework.
ABSTRACT
Background:
As the pattern of diseases is changing, the health needs of society are also changing. To keep abreast with these changes, nursing and midwifery practice should consider transiting from traditional practices to evidence-based practices (EBP) which include research utilisation (RU). Most studies in Ghana have focused on EBP but there has been less focus on RU in clinical nursing and midwifery.
Objective:
The study aims to develop a conceptual framework that can facilitate RU among clinical nurses and midwives in Ghanaian health facilities.
Methods:
This will be a cross-sectional study with a concurrent mixed-methods approach. It will be conducted in six hospitals and four nursing educational institutions in Kumasi city, Ghana. The study has four objectives: One applies quantitative methods to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of 400 clinical nurses and midwives regarding RU in Ghana. Descriptive statistics and inferential analysis of quantitative data using SPSS will be carried out with statistical significance established at 0.05. Objectives two and three use qualitative methods (focus group discussions) to explore the factors influencing the RU of clinical nurses and midwives, and nurse educators’ preparation of nurses and midwives for RU during their training, respectively. Objective four uses individual interviews to explore the views of nurse managers on RU in health facilities. Inductive thematic analysis will be used, and Lincoln and Guba’s principles of trustworthiness will be applied. The stages of model development proposed by Chinn and Kramer, and Walker and Avant will be used to triangulate findings from all objectives and formulate a conceptual framework.
Results:
Data collection started in December 2022. Publication of results will begin in April 2023.
Conclusions:
Globally, the use of research in nursing practice has been found to have enormous benefits to both providers and recipients of nursing care. This study will unearth the factors influencing RU by clinical nurses and midwives in Ghana and build on the strengths to develop a conceptual framework to guide RU. In conclusion, this will be one of the first studies in Ghana to empower nurses and midwives regarding how best they can use the available evidence in their practice.
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