and competencies – to be scored on a 4-point Likert scale from ‘high’ (4) to ‘none’ (1); 1 question about their opinion of research as being a part of their daily practice – to be scored on a 4-point Likert scale from ‘high’ (4) to ‘none’ (1)). The fourth and final category included questions (n=7) about the participants’ motivation to increase their knowledge of nursing research. The first question was about the nurses’ motivation to increase their research knowledge and competencies, assessed through yes or no. This question was related to sub-questions about the nurses’ motivational factors and barriers: Yes: multiple choice assessments of important motivational factors; no: multiple choice assessments of personal and contextual barriers. The six further questions of motivation concerned (1 question about the kind of knowledge they wished to improve, assessed through multiple choice; 1 question about which research competencies they wished to develop, assessed through multiple choice; 1 question about their wish to collaborate in areas related to management; 3 questions about their wish to participate in a research project, if they had an idea for a study or if they wanted to develop a study).Data collection Data was collected between February and March 2013 at the four sections in the OD. Paper versions of the questionnaire were delivered to the nurses for self-reporting by the first author or the head section nurses. The nurses were recruited during their breakfast meetings in the four sections by the first author through convenience sampling (Polit & Beck, 2008). Our aim with this method of recruitment was to approach as many nurses as possible. The nurses were informed about the study, ethical rights of anonymity and free participation, and about the content of the questionnaire. They were furthermore requested to returning the questionnaire in a sealed envelope, for anonymity, to the first authors’ mailbox after replying. The questionnaires and envelopes were handed out to the nurses present at the meeting. The head section nurse agreed to deliver the questionnaires to the nurses who were absent. After three weeks the nurses were contacted the second time through their head section nurse, who encouraged them to participate in the study. Data from the questionnaires was extracted by the first author in data sheets and afterwards entered into STATA’s data editor for analysis. Statistical analysis Descriptive statistics were used on all variables and presented as numbers and percentage. Statistical analysis was performed by the first author using STATA software (12.0). Ethical considerations The study was approved by the directory of the Regional Hospital of Køge, Region of Zealand. The National Committee on Health Research Ethics and the Danish Data Protection Agency was presented with the protocol, and found no need for a formal evaluation of the project, since no sensitive data were obtained from the nurses. During recruitment the nurses were informed about their ethical rights of anonymity and voluntary participation. RESULTS Sample characteristics All nurses employed in the department (n=87) were invited to participate. Of these, 43 chose to participate in the survey and completed the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 49.4 %. As shown in Table 1, almost all participants were female (97.8%). PLEASE INSERT TABLE 1 ABOUT HERE The age of the participants ranged from 18 to >60, and over half of the participants (62.7%) were over 40 years of age. One-third had been qualified as registered nurses for more than 25 years (34.9%). The majority were educated further after nursing school (65.1%) or currently enrolled as students (18.6%). Knowledge and competencies in nursing research The participants were asked to rate their self-perceived theoretical knowledge of research in general (Table 2). PLEASE INSERT TABLE 2 ABOUT HERE The topics most familiar to the participants were methodology, where 26 participants (60.4%) had a high degree of or some degree of self-perceived knowledge, and qualitative methods and analysis, where 23 participants (53.5%) had a high degree of or some degree of self-perceived knowledge. The participants felt less