Effectiveness of educational interventions on the research literacy of post-registration nurses: a systematic review protocol

No single accepted definition of research literacy for the health sciences has been found to exist, despite extensive searching. For the purposes of this review we propose that research literacy should be defined as “understanding research language and its application to practice” which has been found in use in the complementary therapies literature. This definition encompasses the reading and understanding implicit in the term “literacy” and the specific functional application required when examining research literacy in particular.

Comparatively few nurses will conduct research during their careers, but the ability to read, understand and utilize research is needed by all nurses. No current systematic review of this topic has been identified after searching across all major health science databases and Google Scholar. The current research reports conflicting results on the effectiveness of interventions to improve nurses' research literacy and/or knowledge, which points to the importance of conducting a systematic review of this evidence.