Development and psychometric testing of the Nursing Research Self-Efficacy Scale (NURSES).

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Nursing Research Self-Efficacy Scale (NURSES) was designed to measure individual nurses' degree of research self-efficacy and their perceptions regarding their unit's collective support of research use. Development for the NURSES instrument spanned a 4-year period, which included initial development, revisions, and psychometric evaluations. METHOD: The NURSES is a 38-item Likert-scale instrument developed through ongoing instrument validation that included content validation and exploratory and confirmatory analysis. The 5 subscales include obtaining science-based knowledge resources, critically reading and evaluating quantitative research literature, critically reading and evaluating qualitative research literature, understanding and applying theory, and collective research efficacy. RESULTS: Over a 4-year period, approximately 1000 practicing nurses from multiple hospitals responded to the instrument. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the existence of four subscales for research self-efficacy and one subscale for collective research efficacy. Reliability for the subscales was excellent, ranging from .94 to .97. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals may wish to use the NURSES instrument as an orientation tool, or to examine relationships between research efficacy and nurses' professional development. Health care facilities on a Magnet journey might also use the NURSES instrument to assess their nursing staff as they pursue evidence-based practice and conduct research.

Research education for clinical nurses: a pilot study to determine research self-efficacy in critical care nurses.

BACKGROUND: Translating research into practice is essential to providing care that promotes both cost-efficient and effective health care delivery. Nurses practicing in the intensive care unit are in need of education that can build research self-efficacy and promote understanding and the ability to apply research findings. METHODS: This pilot study evaluated the Critical Reading of Research Publications Plus course with intensive care unit nurses to determine whether this experience would affect their research self-efficacy. The Nursing Research Self-Efficacy Scale was administered before and after the course. RESULTS: Paired t tests showed a significant increase on three of the four subscales in research self-efficacy. CONCLUSION: This study shows that using a course along with mentors may increase the research self-efficacy of practicing nurses.

Increasing physician impact on the prevention of domestic violence.

Physicians in their professional organizations have recognized the tremendous toll of domestic violence on the safety and health of their patients. Effective integration of screening and referral into routine practice has encountered many significant barriers, primarily the syndrome of compassion fatigue. This article describes how physicians can enhance the safety of families. Universal education offers more opportunities for physicians to communicate with survivors and perpetrators of violence. Specific documentation by physicians will enhance patient care and public health surveillance efforts. Safety planning skills offer immediate benefits to patients facing acute dangers. The participation of physicians (individually and collectively) on adult intentional fatality review boards will make available more specific data and tools for the prevention of domestic violence.