ainsi , les inhalothrapeutes ( it ) devraient tre des consommateurs , des utilisateurs et des producteurs efficaces de recherche scientifique portant sur la technologie en inhalothrapie et en physiologie respiratoire . cependant , on ne sait pas grand - chose de lavis et des attitudes des it envers la recherche . de plus le prsent article contient les rsultats dun sondage auprs des it au sujet des attitudes envers la recherche , y compris lintrt , les comptences autoperues et les obstacles . les chercheurs ont prpar un sondage en consultation avec les it et les chercheurs en enseignement . les sondages ont t remplis et remis de manire anonyme . les chercheurs ont examin les statistiques descriptives et les associations . au total , 112 it ont rempli le sondage ( taux de rponse de 26,9 % ) . la majorit des rpondants ( environ 80 % ) ont convenu que la recherche en inhalothrapie est importante , quelle peut faire progresser la profession et que les it possdent les comptences pour faire de la recherche en inhalothrapie . plus de 70 % souhaitaient faire de la recherche , pourvu que les obstacles soient limins . parmi huit obstacles potentiels , le manque de temps tait class comme le principal dans 59 % des cas . le niveau dducation des it sassociait de manire positive  leur volont de faire de la recherche et  leur conviction de possder les comptences ncessaires pour en faire . ils auraient besoin dun appui considrable , y compris une plus grande exposition  la recherche pendant leur formation en inhalothrapie et plus de temps et de soutien de la part de chercheurs forms . the st michael s hospital ( toronto , ontario ) research ethics board approved the study . an extensive literature search for rt - appropriate measurement surveys and opinion questionnaires was conducted . the pubmed , medline , cinahl and proquest nursing and allied health databases were searched using the terms  respiratory therapist  , views  ,  attitudes  ,  opinions  ,  interest  ,  experience  ,  research  and  survey  . the search did not find an instrument suitable for rts ; therefore , a paper - based survey was developed . the survey was pilot - tested for clarity and content with a small rt subgroup from one of the participating sites . the survey underwent minor revisions based on the feedback received and results from the pilot group were excluded from the final results . false to  very true. one section included a forced - rank - order question in which respondents ranked a set of eight barriers . another section asked respondents to select the best response from a list of five statements characterizing their belief about research when training to become an rt and the type of involvement they expected to have postlicensure . the demographic section did not request specification of practice areas and , thus , the results represent rts in various roles within the academic centres . the survey was distributed to all 416 rts practicing in six university of toronto - affiliated teaching hospitals ( toronto , ontario ) . distribution occurred via departmental mailboxes , handouts by departmental leaders or managers , or by leaving the survey in a common area used frequently by rts . an initial contact e - mail message accompanied the survey distribution as a formal invitation and explanation of the project . the survey broadly operationalized facets of rt research capacity and motivation using several question and response formats . the analysis was exploratory - descriptive , did not have classical test theory measurement objectives , and did not analyze validity and reliability of constructs . responses were analyzed using spss ( ibm corporation , usa ) in consultation with a statistician . descriptive statistics and frequency tables were produced and associations were examined using cross - tabulations and the  statistic . the kruskal - wallis anova was used to test equality of group locations . subgroup analyses were performed on educational attainment and years of work experience as an rt using the least significant difference post hoc test . the four education categories were : diploma ; diploma plus advanced training ( diploma+ ) ; diploma plus bachelor s degree ; and master s degree . the five work experience categories were 0 to 5 , 6 to 10 , 11 to 15 , 16 to 20 and > 20 years . all ( 100% ) respondents either strongly agreed ( 84.8% ) or somewhat agreed ( 15.2% ) with the statement  research is important ( figure 1 ) . the majority of the respondents either strongly agreed ( 78.6% ) or somewhat agreed ( 20.5% ) that  respiratory therapy research is important.  research plays an important role in advancing respiratory therapy as a profession was answered  strongly agree by 56.8% , somewhat agree by 39.6% , and  neither agree nor disagree by 3.6% . for the statement , research plays an important role in my day - to - day practice as an rt, the responses were 33.9% strongly agree , 45.5% somewhat agree , 17.0% neither agree nor disagree , and 3.6% somewhat disagree . three statements were used to identify rts opinions as to who they believe is best suited to conduct respiratory therapy research ( figure 2 ) . the statement rts are best suited to research respiratory therapy - related topics was answered as strongly agree by 50.9% and somewhat agree by 39.3% . for rns are best suited to investigate respiratory therapy - related topics , 52.7% strongly disagreed , 31.3% somewhat disagreed , and 12.5% neither agreed nor disagreed . the third statement was ,  md and other scientists are best suited to investigate respiratory therapy - related topics. these responses had some variability : 4.5% strongly agreed , 20.5% somewhat agreed , 25.0% neither agreed nor disagreed , 44.6% somewhat disagreed and 5.4% strongly disagreed . to differentiate between who should perform respiratory therapy research and how rts feel about their day - to - day practice , the statement , i trust in the staff mds to keep respiratory care practices in the icu up - to - date and current was used . strongly agree was selected by 9.8% , somewhat agree by 42.0% , neither agree nor disagree by 17.9% , somewhat disagree by 21.4% and strongly disagree by 8.9% ( table 1 ) . the survey asked how rts view their colleagues relationship to research ( table 1 ) . the five - point response scale ranged from false to very true . the statement ,  there is a general lack of interest by the department s rts to do research , was believed to be false by 1.8% , somewhat false by 18.8% , somewhat true by 46.4% and very true by 7.1% ; approximately 25.9% were unsure . for the item ,  respiratory therapy research would not be valued by anyone else other than rts themselves , 18.9% of respondents believed this statement was false and 36.0% somewhat false . only 15.3% believed it was somewhat true and 0.9% very true ; approximately 28.8% did not know . lack of time was ranked as the most significant barrier by the largest proportion ( 59.0% ) . each barrier s mean rank was calculated and barriers were sorted in ascending numerical order according to mean ( ie , decreasing order of barrier relevance ) . the top three most significant barriers were lack of time ( mean [ m]=1.9 ) , lack of incentive ( m=4.0 ) and lack of skill ( m = 4.1 ) . lack of interest was the least significant barrier ( ie , it had the largest mean [ m=5.8 ] ) . a large majority ( 71.8% ) said that if barriers were eliminated they would be interested in pursuing a respiratory therapy research project and 17.3% said maybe ( table 2 ) . cross - tabulations and the  statistic were used to identify demographic characteristics associated with rt willingness and self - perceived ability to conduct research . willingness was assessed by the statement  if i had dedicated time away from clinical responsibilities , i would be willing to work on a research project. the five - point response scale ranged from strongly disagree = 1 to strongly agree = 5 . educational attainment and willingness to work on a research project rts with more education were more willing to work on a research project ( p=0.003 ) ( figure 3 ) . rts with a bachelor s degree had a higher mean ( m=4.3 ) than diploma respondents ( m=3.5 ) and the difference was statistically significant ( p=0.001 ) . rts with a master s degree were more willing to conduct research ( m=5.0 ) than those with a diploma ( m=3.5 ; p=0.001 ) . the belief in having research skills (  i have skills required to do research ) was also associated with educational attainment ( p=0.006 ) . rts with master s and bachelor s degrees were more likely to believe they had research skills than those with a diploma ( p=0.006 ) ( figure 4 ) . willingness to learn skills required to do research (  i want to learn the skills required to do research ) was associated with years of experience as an rt ( pearson  ; p=0.048 ; kruskal - wallis  ; p=0.01 ) . respondents with 11 to 15 years were more willing to learn than others ( m=4.4 ; 0 to five m=4.0 ; six to 10 m=3.9 ; 16 to 20 m=4.2 ; > 20 m=3.3 ) . i want to be left to do my job , fulfill my clinical responsibilities and nothing else , those with six to 10 ( m=1.8 ) and 11 to 15 ( m=1.8 ) years of experience expressed more disagreement ( pearson  ; p<0.001 ; kruskal - wallis  ; p=0.03 ) than those with 0 to five ( m=2.0 ) , 16 to 20 ( m=2.4 ) and > 20 ( m=2.9 ) years of experience . rts were asked to share their expectations pertaining to research when they were training to become an rt by selecting one of five qualitative response options ( figure 5 ) . research could be a part of the job if you were interested was selected by 47.6% of respondents . research was not part of the job and not discussed was selected by 27.6% . research was discussed as something people in other professions did was selected by 18.1% . research would be encouraged was selected by 3.8% , and  research would be an expected part of our job and duty was selected by 2.9% . the associations between these expectations and educational attainment ( p=0.93 ) and years of experience ( p=0.13 ) were not statistically significant . what was once a job that involved hauling tanks and titrating oxygen is now a skilled career in which professionals manage life support devices for critically ill patients . rts now create recommendations for respiratory care plans and are valued members of the multidisciplinary team ( 46 ) . they are bedside specialists who combine a technological understanding of machinery with an advanced knowledge of respiratory physiology and particular training to assess this interaction ( 46 ) . it appears consistent that the group best suited to critically question and analyze respiratory therapy practice is the very group of people responsible for respiratory interventions . without continuous critical assessment through research however , few rts have time to perform the research that establishes ebp ( 17 ) . although many rts are competent clinicians in academic hospitals , research barriers are numerous . by participating in the present study , rts in several academic hospital roles the most relevant result is that rts believe that research is generally important and that respiratory therapy research is particularly important . rts also believe that research is necessary in their day - to - day practice and for advancing the profession . however , the level of agreement decreased the more specific the survey statements became about research in relation to respiratory therapy . research is important , while 78.6% strongly agreed that  respiratory therapy research is important. it is unclear why the strength of agreement decreased when respiratory therapy research was specified , or why rts believe that respiratory therapy - related research is slightly less important . the level of agreement continues to decrease with each successive statement and suggests that there is a sense of uncertainty within the profession regarding the association between respiratory therapy and research . the reason for the progressive change in response is speculative without further investigation . despite this observation had the opposite been true , a starting approach to respiratory therapy research would require a shift in motivation . consequently , academic hospital leaders should be aware that rts values with respect to research are similar to the organization s values . academic hospitals should support rts who want to pursue research that is in accord with the institution s mission . rts often facilitate other investigators research . however , to develop independent research capacity , rts must display professional responsibility toward research within their area of practice ( 25,12,14,16,19,25 ) . rts expressed a sense of ownership over respiratory therapy research ; they believed that rts are best suited to conduct respiratory therapy research . rts do not believe that registered nurses ( rns ) are best equipped to investigate respiratory therapy topics . they disagreed with the statement about rns with the same frequency that they agreed with rts suitability . in addition to the small percentage of respondents that disagreed with the statement that rts are best suited to investigate respiratory therapy topics , there was a small percentage that believed that rns are best suited to perform respiratory therapy research . few rts have master s degrees and some respondents may perceive rts to be academically unprepared for research . the role rts believe rns should or should not have in respiratory therapy research requires further investigation to fully comprehend the ensuing dynamic it may also relate to how comparatively new respiratory therapy is as a discipline that has not secured as many academic avenues and research supports as nursing . although many rts believed that physicians are best suited for respiratory therapy research , a near majority disagreed . this result further exemplifies rts sense of professional responsibility and it provides a small glimpse of how health care is changing . with the evolution of specialties , such as respiratory therapy , these respondents believe that medical doctors ( mds ) or scientists , despite having the skill to conduct research , are not necessarily best suited to research respiratory therapy topics . they work with the intricacies of the processes and procedures of patient care within their daily practice . they have clearly identified themselves as respiratory specialists and the candidates best suited to generate questions and add to the information base in this area of expertise . although rts believe that they themselves should be asking questions and contributing to research , their views do not suggest a strong desire to perform it all themselves . moreover , it does not imply that mds and other scientists should not research respiratory therapy topics . when asked whether they  trust the staff mds to keep respiratory care practices in the intensive care unit [ icu ] up to date and current the majority of rts agreed with the statement . clearly , these respondents believe that mds still play an important role in the process of establishing and implementing practice guidelines . at first glance , the responses to the statements about mds conducting research on respiratory therapy topics ( mds are not best suited for it ) and mds updating intensive respiratory care practices ( they are trusted to do so ) appeared to be contradictory . however , this indecisiveness as to what role rts believe the mds should have in respiratory practice is more likely a reflection of the professional responsibility that rts carry . as illustrated by the responses , there is a demarcation on what rts believe the role of the rt should be as it pertains to research . they have distinguished themselves as having a role in generating knowledge more so than implementing practices . we found that rts do have a sense of self - worth in relation to research . however , they also expressed apathy . one - half of the respondents perceived a general lack of interest among their department colleagues to conduct research . although this is a rather negative opinion about their colleagues motivation for research , the perception may not match reality because , for example , lack of interest in research was self - ranked as the least significant barrier to research . furthermore , nearly three - quarters said that they would be interested in conducting a research project related to respiratory therapy if barriers were eliminated . approximately one - quarter of rts did not know whether their colleagues lacked interest in research and did not know whether respiratory therapy research would be valued by non - rts . these figures are reasons for concern because they suggest that some rts are substantially unaware of local norms in relation to research . we are concerned by the results regarding rts beliefs about research while training to become rts . very few respondents reported impressions that research was encouraged or that it was an expected part of the job . for example , new rts and those with 20 years of experience shared the same belief about research when training to become an rt . similarly , regardless of educational attainment , research exposure , encouragement and support during training were uncommon . three main barriers to conducting research that rts encounter in standard practice were identified : lack of time , lack of incentives and lack of skill . rts are busy clinicians and the foundation of the profession remains at the bedside ( 17 ) . for this reason , rts need to have time available for research  whether it be dedicated hours away from bedside , higher rt - patient ratios or a supported research program . other incentives , such as flexibility in hours and scheduling , could be alternatives to monetary offerings . lack of skill is a factor that employers , professional organizations and academic hospitals could jointly remediate by making resources available to rts who do not have formal training necessary to conduct their own research . the study identified two associations with educational attainment : first , a willingness to work on a research project ; and , second , a belief in having the skills necessary for research . respondents with more education were more willing to conduct research and assert that they have the necessary skills . willingness to learn the skills required to conduct research was greatest in the 11 to 15 years experience range . groups with moderate experience ( eg , six to 15 years ) were more willing to pursue activities in addition to clinical practice . it appears that these rts have become proficient in their bedside responsibilities and wish to have a greater impact on the profession in which they have become so adept . less experienced rts were not as willing to conduct disciplinary research and are perhaps focused on developing their clinical bedside skills . the most experienced rts ( > 16 years ) were the least willing to learn research skills . most clinicians in this group also do not want to take on additional duties outside of their clinical responsibilities . it is possible that this group lacks confidence to work in novel areas . for departments that want an active respiratory therapy research program , it may be helpful to recruit rts with higher educational attainment and moderate levels of work experience . the obtained sample size was low and there may have been a response bias favouring research . most respondents held a bachelor s degree , and the survey should be fielded at community hospitals to assess the generalizability of our results . the items in some scale sections should be analyzed with statistical methods to judge the data s validity and reliability with a larger sample size and when formal measurement constructs are developed . the broadest challenges to respiratory therapy research are the lack of systematic exposure to research during respiratory therapy training , as well as within colleague networks and the work environments . if rts intend to conduct research , respiratory therapy curricula should be modified to convey research as a valuable activity . this will help foster a culture of inquiry through which new graduates , regardless of whether from an academic centre , can enter the profession with a view on research as an expectation rather than simply an afterthought . administrative leaders of academic centres should acknowledge that their bedside clinicians share similar organizational values . with this knowledge , resources can be allocated to eliminate barriers and support the willingness and urgency of rts to conduct research . rts could then perform at a level that is expected of them and which they desire .
in step with rapid advances in technology , evidence - based practice has emerged as a major contributor to the contemporary clinical decision - making process . however , processing the tremendous amount of rapidly evolving available information has proven to be challenging for many health care professionals . 
 respiratory therapy is no exception to the innovation , evolution and rapid advances that have occurred over the past decade , and many in the field are in an ideal position to contribute to the scholarship of the profession . 
 this study was prompted by the lack of studies investigating the perspectives and opinions of respiratory therapists with regard to their participation in research and implementation of findings .