title: Barriers to the use of paediatric clinical practice guidelines in rural and regional New South Wales Australia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify barriers to compliance with paediatric clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in emergency departments in rural and regional New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and to propose strategies to increase their use.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten emergency departments in rural and regional NSW.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty medical officers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Use of clinical practice guidelines and perceived barriers to their usage.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only 22% of medical officers reported that they used the CPGs frequently when managing sick children. Major barriers to the use of CPGs were a lack of awareness of their existence, a lack of training in their use and poor access to the guidelines in printed or electronic format.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In order to increase compliance with the paediatric CPGs, medical officers in rural and regional NSW require further training and education. The CPGs need to be readily available in either printed or electronic format.
authors.affiliation: Rural Medical School, University of New South Wales, Wagga Wagga, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Cohn
authors.affiliation: Rural Medical School, University of New South Wales, Wagga Wagga, Australia.
authors.forename: Bijender
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gautam
authors.affiliation: Rural Medical School, University of New South Wales, Wagga Wagga, Australia.
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Preddy
authors.affiliation: Rural Medical School, University of New South Wales, Wagga Wagga, Australia.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Connors
authors.affiliation: School of Women's & Children's Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Sean E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kennedy
mesh_terms: D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D009517:New South Wales; D010372:Pediatrics; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D019035:Rural Health Services; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: clinical practice guideline; compliance; emergency department; medical officer; rural NSW