Research experience, interest and perceived barriers of clinical staff working at the Intensive Care Department of a tertiary care academic hospital in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND Promoting clinical research is important considering the shortage of clinical investigators and the increasing need for large multicenter studies. Participation of clinical staff in research is crucial to achieve this goal. Our objective was to assess the research experience and interest of clinical staff working at a tertiary-care intensive care unit (ICU) and explore the perceived research barriers. METHODS A written survey was administered to 185 multidisciplinary ICU staff at a 900-bed tertiary-care academic hospital in Riyadh. It consisted of questions/statements on previous research experience, interests and barriers. Responses were either Yes/No answers or graded according to the 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS Most (62.8%) staff responded (age = 33.9 +/- 7.2 years, 69.6% females, 76.0% nurses, 10.4% physicians, clinical experience = 7.6 +/- 6.8 years). Fifty (40%) respondents participated in clinical research (physicians 69.2%, nurses 37.9% and respiratory therapists 25%, p = 0.052 ), 42 (33.6%) of them in the current ICU but only 11.2% presented in-person their research projects at national/international meetings. Most respondents (86.2%) believed that participation in research would enhance their career. There was no differences in research tasks clinical staff were willing to perform except for writing manuscripts with physicians (69.2%) and respiratory therapists (58.3%) more willing than nurses (29.5%), p = 0.03. Perceived research barriers were lack of time (76.8%), of financial compensation (58.4%) and of encouragement (48.8%). CONCLUSIONS The majority of clinical staff working at a tertiary-care ICU of an academic hospital was interested in conducting research but the lack of time, financial compensation and encouragement were perceived as significant barriers.