The Influence of Organisational Readiness on Knowledge Translation and Implementation of Innovation in a Social Hospital: A Case Study

Healthcare organisations recognize the need to deliver higher quality, evidence-based care. Thus, managers need to improve their practice regarding managing and translating knowledge. Knowledge Translation faces diverse barriers that must be identified and addressed. Perceptions from 138 nurses at a social hospital were gathered using a pilot European Portuguese version of the Organisational Readiness for Knowledge Translation (OR4KT) instrument, to assess the organisation’s readiness to translate knowledge and implement change. A quantitative, descriptive-exploratory, and cross-sectional study was developed combining descriptive and inferential analyses to identify facilitating and hindering factors of Organisational Culture dimensions. Dimensions scores revealed the institution’s strengths in dimensions such as Organisational Climate for Change (36.25) and Organisational Support (35.85), but also exposed the need to improve Motivation (32.95) and Leadership (34.45). The overall score settled at 62.72, normalised on a 0 to 100 scale. A new variable was computed due to the significant percentage of Specialist Nurses who weren’t integrated into the profession's career, and “Professional Recognition” emerged as determinative for Organisational Readiness, with formally recognized Nurse Specialists reporting statistically different perceptions across multiple dimensions of the Organisational Culture. The results revealed that the organisation presents a good foundation for implementing innovation, but hasn’t reached optimal readiness.