BARRIERS TOWARDS RESEARCH AMONG FACULTY OF TWO NURSING COLLEGES IN KURDISTAN REGION, IRAQ

Background: Health care services were deteriorated in Iraq generally and in Kurdistan region specially during the last 30 years, due to complex situation of war, embargo and neglect. Presently government is involved in improving the health care system, so colleges of nursing were established in main cities of Kurdistan region, in order to prepare well qualified nurses. Faculty members of those colleges teach nursing students both theoretical and clinical courses, and they have the responsibility of teaching quality nursing care. So use of research findings is essential to enhance such type of teaching. But from investigators experience, majority of faculty members have many barriers to conduct research, including lack of administrative support, insufficient time on the job to implement new ideas, or lack of knowledgeable mentors. Therefore it is intention of this study to identify barriers towards research among faculty of two nursing colleges in Kurdistan region.
Methods: Across-sectional study was conducted in college of nursing, Hawler medical University and college of nursing, Sulimani University, both colleges are located in two main cities in the Kurdistan region/ Iraq. Self administrated anonymous questionnaire was distributed to all faculty members of both colleges. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire form after extensive review of literature. 25 questions were included in the study questionnaire. The first 7 were about study participants background, the next 18 were about barriers for conducting research. The format of all responses was in categorical design(yes/no and by choosing appropriate responses among already given options). Content validity of the questionnaire secured through review process with experts in field. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 15.
Results: Findings of the study reveal that majority of study participants were female ,their age ranged from 25-39 years, assistant lecturers , interested in conducting research and most of them have not published or presented a research in a conference previously. The main barriers to conduct research according to study participants are lack of time, lack of research training, lack of financial incentives, difficulty in accessing research journals, difficulty in publishing research reports and lack of implementing research findings.
Conclusion: Majority of the study participants had barriers to conduct research. Research output may improve if identified barriers are rectified. Further studies are recommended.