Hidden and/or indirect costs associated with implementing a research utilization project
Research involves a lot of money, and the feasibility of any research is influenced by the accessibility of financial resources. There are various costs involved in the course of study that is both direct and indirect. The expenses include; personnel time, subject costs, dissemination, equipment and supplies. Therefore, there is need to ensure financial resources are adequate as well as to formulate a good budget that will cover these costs before embarking on a research.
Hidden costs entail the costs related to carrying out a literature search or in other words, fees for permission to reprint articles and to use certain research instruments (Beyea& Nicoll, 1998). The first hidden costs of implementing nursing research utilization project are those that go to performing literature review. The review involves extensive reading and access to costly books and journals. Many researchers forget to account for such costs in their budget despite the fact that they are very crucial. Another indirect cost arises from the fact that some scholarly articles cannot be obtained without paying for them. Therefore, some finances are required to gain permission to reprint articles. Costs for ‘subjects” becomes necessary if the researcher has to meet up and engage research subjects (Beyea& Nicoll, 1998). The participants may be given some gifts or a small pay for their contribution. These costs are equivalent to the number of subjects.
Use of certain instruments requires permission to use and be paid for. They include equipment or apparatus to carry out certain tests and are only available at specific institutions or laboratories. Costs associated with disseminating the findings of the research fall under the category of indirect costs as well (Beyea& Nicoll, 1998). It is important to set money aside to do prints and publications of the results. After getting the findings, the researcher needs to disseminate the facts in different forums and to various stakeholders. Many researchers find it difficult to share this information since they cannot afford to publish.
Typical stakeholders that a nurse might encounter when implementing a change in their working environment
In the course of implementing change in the working environment, the nurse encounters various stakeholders that range from patients, hospital managers and owners, doctors, health staff and so on. One of the important stakeholders is the institution heads of grant programs who are in charge of giving grants to facilitate evidence based research. The researcher may not have all the money to facilitate the entire study and therefore may need to approach heads of institutions or universities for grants.
After research findings, the researcher may want to implement change in the hospitals. In this case he or she must deal with patients who are meant to benefit from this implementation. For instance, a change in reporting shift to bedside reporting involves the patients. It is important to clearly explain to the patients the importance of such policy to minimize resistance (Burns & Groove, 2009).
To get the support to implement changes from a research finding, the researcher must have the support of senior medical practitioners, doctors and hospital owners in case of a for-profit hospital. The findings and impacts must be convincing enough to bring them on board. It is therefore advisable to involve them from the inception of the research. Other scientists may also be involved in validating the applicability of the proposed change.
The most influential stakeholders in determining the success of the implementation of a change are the nursing staff. If they bring about resistance, it could pose challenges to the administration or the one implementing the change. To get their support, the changes must be explained to them before hand and impact on their assignments discussed. Evidence from other institutions where the same has worked well could also be useful (Burns & Groove, 2009).
Reference list
Beyea, S & Nicoll, H. (1998). Debunking research myths – research on a shoestring Budget. Web.
Burns, N & Groove, S. (2009). The Practice of Nursing Research: Appraisal, Synthesis, and Generation of evidence. St Louis: Elsevier Saunders. Print.