Introduction: Scientific research by nurses provides new knowledge that is helpful for the professional autonomy, as well as improving the quality of patient care. It has been demonstrated in the literature that clinical nurses have minimal participation in scientific research. Objective: To recognise the factors that facilitate or make it difficult to conduct scientific research in the clinical nurse community. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on a cohort of 71 clinical nurses, by applying a validated on-line questionnaire, after informed consent and Ethics Committee approval was obtained. Data results were analysed using SPSS 15.0 and presented with graphs and tables. Results: The large majority (87.1%) of those surveyed had a positive attitude towards research, and motivation was the key factor to initiate it. The level of knowledge and the post-graduate degrees facilitated research projects. Only 45.7% believed that they had sufficient knowledge to perform research, and 80% of clinical nurses do not have advanced degrees. Important barriers for starting research are health care burden (65.7%), and not having enough time (72.9%). Conclusions: The factors that facilitate or make it difficult for research by nurses are similar to those reported in others studies. To recognise and fix them could lead to educating more critical and motivated nurses, with administrative and organisational structures that support and motivate them to perform research, as well as providing a nursing research database in order to contribute to the quality of care for patients.