Abstract

ABSTRACT Patient participation plays a vital role in evidence‐based practice (EBP), yet its development in clinical nursing is slow. Current research has focused on identifying barriers to patient participation in everyday care, with less research on barriers to patient participation in EBP. Therefore, a questionnaire containing basic information and open‐ended questions was used to explore nursing staff attitudes and barriers to patient participation in EBP. Responses to the open‐ended question were analyzed with content analysis. Four roles of patient participation, positive and negative attitudes toward patient participation, and 134 barriers to patient participation in EBP were extracted from 121 nursing staff responses through content analysis. Five categories of barriers were extracted from the 134 barriers to patient participation, including patient, cost‐effectiveness of EBP, healthcare staff, organization, and resource. This study found that patients' acceptance and trust in EBP also influenced their participation in the practices. Moreover, nursing staff have little knowledge of engaging patients in EBP. More educational strategies and organizational support should be provided to patients and nurses to promote patient participation.