Nursing

Spreading the word on EBP

Nurse Leader Weekly, May 22, 2006

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Editor's Note: This excerpt was taken from HCPro's new book Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing: A Guide to Successful Implementation by Suzanne C. Beyea, RN, PhD, FAAN and Mary Jo Slattery, RN, MS. For more information, click here.

There are many ways to educate an organization about evidence-based practice (EBP). Often, nurses first must learn the basics of evidence-based practice, so an introduction to the topic can be crucial. Try collaborating with the nursing education department-educators may be able to identify the best educational strategies to achieve the desired results.

Strategies to present and explain EBP include self-study packets either in hard copies or online. One organization developed Web-delivered research based staff education and found this method to be effective and flexible. Another organization used the train-the-trainer strategy in its efforts to build capacity for evidence-based practice. Nursing grand rounds offer another avenue for disseminating information about evidence-based practices.

Presentation topics could include evidence-based information or focus specifically on answering the question, "What is evidence-based nursing?" Even clinical topics might provide an avenue for research dissemination and be interesting to nurses. Nurses may appreciate being offered continuing education contact hours for these educational programs, and it may increase their attendance at the various sessions. Also note that varying your approach may encourage more nurses to participate.

All nurses should learn how to use the PICO format to ask clinical questions. The acronym means

P = Patient population

I = Intervention or topic of interest

C = Comparison that will be conducted

O = Outcome

This questioning framework helps nurses ask pertinent clinical questions and helps them focus on asking the right question.

Note that orientation for recent nurse graduates or experienced nurses is the perfect time for the chair of the research council to discuss nursing research and evidence-based practice with all newly employed staff. Educators and clinical nurse specialists can promote evidence-based practice during annual competencies on each unit. Create a link between research findings, education, and competency development to make evidence-based practice a reality.



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