Decreasing Barriers to Research Utilization Among Labor and Delivery Nurses.

Background: Intermittent fetal monitoring (IFM) is a recommended strategy for intrapartum fetal heart rate assessment in low-risk pregnancies; however, this "high touch, low tech" approach is underutilized.
Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the relationships between labor and delivery nurses' intellectual capital and their perceptions of barriers to research utilization in the work setting.
Methods: A cross-sectional correlational design using data derived from a larger study of labor and delivery nurses (N = 248) was used. Covell's theory of nursing intellectual capital was used as the conceptual and analytic framework to examine labor and delivery nurses' intellectual capital and their perceived barriers to research utilization.
Results: Nurses who receive paid time off from their employer to attend conferences (p < .01) and nurses who do not report nurse-to-patient ratios as a problem in providing IFM (p < .01) perceive fewer barriers to research utilization.
Discussion: Time, especially available time, has an effect on labor and delivery nurses' attitude toward IFM and their perceptions of barriers to research utilization.