Nursing Research and Participant Recruitment

Abstract

Hospitals as research environments are crucial in advancing evidence-based practice and translational research. The authors discuss issues related to hospital-based nursing research such as institutional review board approval, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, structure, unit characteristics, and nurse staffing as well as research-related issues such as study purpose and design, participant recruitment, and research personnel. Strategies and suggestions for nurse executives to assist researchers in overcoming recruitment challenges are presented.Nursing research provides evidence for best practices by offering answers to the questions raised by nurses in clinical and community settings. An active nursing research program in healthcare organizations encourages all levels of nursing personnel to find answers to clinical questions and incorporate the findings into clinical practice. Although the intended outcome of an active nursing research program is quality care, there is considerable variation among organizations in building and conducting such programs. Some organizations limit nursing research to dissemination of research findings to clinical staff (1,2). Others, such as those that have achieved American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet status and have active nursing research programs (3), use Donabedian principles of structure and process to evaluate quality (4).

Optimizing physical activity among older adults post trauma: Overcoming system and patient challenges

“…al., 2013; Richmond, et. al., 2006; Weierbach, Glick, & Fletcher, 2010). Reasons included such things as the patient being too sedated to participate in the consent process, confusion or acute delirium, inability to reach the LAR and a lack of willingness to participate due to being overwhelmed by the acute nature of their situation.…”

“…As has been recommended in prior research (NeSmith, et al, 2013; Richmond, et al, 2006; Weierbach, et al, 2010), motivational interventions to increase nursing staff awareness of study activities were provided in both sites. Specifically the nurses were provided with small gifts (e.g., snack foods for the units, thank you mugs and bags) to acknowledge their help and support.…”

Recruiting Hospitalized Mexican American Elder Adults and Caregivers: Challenges and Strategies

“…Resistance by staff to approach patients for recruiters to talk with them has been acknowledged by other researchers (Weierbach et al, 2010). …”

“…We purchased “College of Nursing” polo shirts in the university's color for each team member involved in recruitment to wear. Other researchers have also reported success through increased visibility and branding, for example, by bringing to staff snacks with attached messages about the study (Weierbach et al, 2010) and recognizing helpful staff with acknowledgement to their supervisors (Segre et al, 2011). …”

“…Buckwalter (2009) reported that one-third of all clinical trials fail to recruit projected sample numbers, sometimes because of overly restrictive recruitment criteria. Our future studies will now be able to benefit from the established partnerships with key personnel in the recruitment setting, in order to facilitate earlier identification and recruitment of specific samples (Weirbach et al, 2010), in our case, elders who will receive HHCS referrals.…”