Moving beyond 'not enough time': factors influencing paediatric clinicians' participation in research.

BACKGROUND: Increasing the amount of clinical research that occurs in healthcare settings has been identified as an important mechanism to improve healthcare outcomes. While clinicians are key persons in achieving this aim, research participation amongst clinicians is generally limited.

AIMS: To identify the factors (barriers and facilitators) influencing clinician research participation and determine how professional culture impacts on these factors.

METHODS: Forty clinicians working at a tertiary children's hospital participated in six discipline-specific focus groups. Thematic analysis was performed using an inductive process based in grounded theory.

RESULTS: Four major themes (cultural factors, personal factors, resources and solutions) and 16 subthemes were identified. Participants described how the current health system discourages clinician research. They reported that their research participation requires personal sacrifice of their own time; income or career progression. Research participation was seen to compete with other priorities in clinicians' workload and is disadvantaged because of the primacy of clinical work and the lack of immediate tangible benefit from research projects. Solutions suggested by our participants included better alignment of clinical and research goals, improved availability of research mentors and collaborative opportunities. Nurses and allied health professionals reported a changing professional culture that values research. Only doctors identified research participation to be important for career progression.

CONCLUSIONS: For clinician research participation to flourish, significant changes in healthcare structure and priorities will be required that result in research becoming more embedded in healthcare delivery. Initiatives to improve collaboration between clinicians and universities may also support these aims.