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Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the perception of primary care nurses regarding the need and use of knowledge from research, as a basis for evidence-based practice in their workplace. Additionally, the study aimed to determine which factors might hinder or enable implementation into daily practice., Background: Evidence-based practice involves integrating best results in research with clinical experience, which enables us to provide a higher quality of care, as well as to optimize the care given. International studies show that nurses feel that there are still many barriers that hinder their doing research and incorporating new findings into clinical practice; although in the field of primary care, few studies have been carried out., Methods: This descriptive qualitative study design used focus groups to collect data. This study was carried out in Spanish primary care centres. Forty-six registered nurses took part in this study and were divided into five focus groups., Results: Three significant themes emerged: awareness of the need to use research, nurses as knowledge-generation agents and motivation to use research despite barriers., Limitations: A limited number of participants and a convenience sample were used., Conclusion: Nurses recognize that professional health care must be based on evidence obtained from daily work - both originated by their colleagues and by themselves - and they are willing to work on it although they perceive a lack of competence for this purpose and demand support from their institutions., Implications for Nursing Policy: Primary care institutions should empower nursing coordinators as leaders of evidence-based practice and implicate clinical nurses from the beginning on the implementation of guidelines., (© 2016 International Council of Nurses.)

Background Although evidence-based clinical practice constitutes a priority for healthcare services in many countries within the last few years, there is a general lack of implementation of evidence-based clinical practice in nursing care, especially in primary health care. Few qualitative studies concerning the influencing factors on evidence-based clinical practice for community nurses have been carried out. Aim This study examined the perception of nurses in Spanish primary health care with regard to the knowledge, advantages and barriers within the application process with evidence-based clinical practice. Methods We used a descriptive qualitative study with focus groups to collect data. Forty-six primary care nurses took part in this study and they were distributed into five focus groups. Results Five main topics arose from the results achieved: knowledge and development of evidence-based clinical practice, evidence searching, evidence dissemination, advantages of use of evidence-based clinical practice, and barriers for its application and implementation. Participants had a positive attitude towards evidence-based practice, although they used this infrequently because of lack of competence and organizational support for its application. Conclusion Our participants are increasingly determined to take into account evidence within the decision-making processes in their usual clinical practice. We consider it advisable to develop specialized training strategies as well as provide necessary resources for the implementation of evidence-based clinical practice duly adapted to the field of primary health care. Implications for nursing and health policy This study highlights the existing gap in translating knowledge to practice and its potential implications in the effectiveness of nursing interventions and decision making in primary health care, and thus its implications for education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]