Nurses' perceptions of the value of nursing research for practice.

Nurses' perceptions of whether nursing research is a valuable guide for clinical practice were investigated by a questionnaire survey. The non-random sample of 410 medical-surgical and psychiatric nurses working in hospitals and community mental health centres were also asked whether they applied research findings to their practice, and whether they participated in research and read nursing research journals. The study found that most nurses believed that nursing research is important for advancing clinical care but few applied research findings to their practice, participated in research or regularly read research journals. There were no significant differences in the value attributed to research by nurses from different educational backgrounds or different clinical settings. In the respondents' opinion, their education in nursing research was well covered in 16% of basic hospital courses and 56% of tertiary courses.