Abstract:
Background: Nurses are required to provide evidence-based care. Hence, the general perception
of nursing students on the usefulness of research for nursing practice should be evaluated. It would
provide more useful information on changing mindset of nurses to enhance the evidence-based
nursing practice in future.
Objective: To understand the nursing student’s perception on usefulness of nursing research and
associated factors for the perception
Methods: An exploratory descriptive qualitative study was done with 28 final year nursing
students with five focus group discussions selected from four government universities in Sri
Lanka through the zoom platform till saturation point was achieved. They were recorded and
transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) was done.
Results: Five major themes were identified. They were “Mandatory component to complete
undergraduate degree, enhance professional development, Personal satisfaction, Obstacles and
Importance of introducing awareness”. Since the research project is highly affected to the GPA
and without the research project, the degree cannot be completed. Under the theme of enhance
professional development, students indicated their opinions on the subject of practical skills as a
nurse, nursing education and nursing management such as providing quality patient care, updating
nursing procedures and service quality management. Moreover, they emphasized that conducting
and publishing research added a qualification, satisfaction and reputation to their carrier. Also,
they emphasized problems they encounter when conducting the research projects, publishing and
utilizing their findings such as funding, lack of awareness and support from clinical setting for
data collection, lack of awareness among the students regarding research methods, publication and
promotion opportunities.
Conclusions: Ideas for the enhancement of nursing profession in Sri Lanka such as clinical
practices, nursing education and the administration of the nursing field were emerged. Negative
aspects to hold the nursing research in the country and suggestions to reduce the barriers for
continuing the research study ahead. This information is useful for the enhancement of evidence based practice for nursing profession in Sri Lanka to take more initiatives in future.
