Background: Increasing the number of patients participating in research studies is a current priority in the National\nHealth Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom. The role of specialist nurses in inviting patients to participate is\nimportant, yet little is known about their experiences of doing so. The aim of this study was to explore the\nperceptions of barriers and facilitators held by specialist nurses with experience of inviting adult NHS patients to a\nwide variety of research studies.\nMethods: A cross-sectional qualitative descriptive study was conducted between March and July 2015. Participants\nwere 12 specialist nurses representing 7 different clinical specialties and 7 different NHS Trusts. We collected data\nusing individual semi-structured interviews, and analysed transcripts using the Framework method to inductively\ngain a descriptive overview of barriers and facilitators.\nResults: Barriers and facilitators were complex and interdependent. Perceptions varied among individuals, however\nbarriers and facilitators centred on five main themes: i) assessing patient suitability, ii) teamwork, iii) valuing\nresearch, iv) the invitation process and v) understanding the study. Facilitators to inviting patients to participate in\nresearch often stemmed from specialist nurses� attitudes, skills and experience. Positive research cultures, effective\nteamwork and strong relationships between research and clinical teams at the local clinical team level were\nsimilarly important. Barriers were reported when specialist nurses felt they were providing patients with insufficient\ninformation during the invitation process, and when specialist nurses felt they did not understand studies to their\nsatisfaction.\nConclusion: Our study offers several new insights regarding the role of specialist nurses in recruiting patients for\nresearch. It shows that strong local research culture and teamwork overcome some wider organisational and\nworkload barriers reported in previous studies. In addition, and in contrast to common practice, our findings\nsuggest research teams may benefit from individualising study training and invitation procedures to specialist\nnurses� preferences and requirements. Findings provide a basis for reflection on practice for specialist nurses,\nresearch teams, policymakers, and all with an interest in increasing patient participation in research.
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