Renae L. Dougal
Idaho State University, USA
Title: An Education Intervention to Overcome Barriers to Evidence-Based Practice
Biography
Biography: Renae L. Dougal
Abstract
Problem: The Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Committee was changed to an EBP Nursing Council. The purpose was to integrate the council within the Hospital's Shared-Governance model; this change brought new members to the Council. These individuals voiced a strong desire to learn the EBP process. However, a lack of understanding about the process of EBP was identified and an education plan was developed.
Evidence: Barriers associated with the EBP process include lack of understanding and value of EBP to individual practice, how to search for and grade evidence, difficulty understanding research articles, lack of computer skills and accessing electronic databases.
Strategy: A qualitative pilot survey was conducted with the Council. Based on results, an education plan was tailored to overcome identified barriers.
Practice Change: The intervention included: 1) education on the Iowa Model, 2) the hospital librarian demonstrated electronic searches through search engines and databases, 3) group participation in writing PICO questions, 4) clinical practice guidelines evaluated using the AGREE tool and 5) Rapid Critical Appraisals for research.
Evaluation: The survey’s primary question asked participants (n=16) to rank the top three barriers to using research in practice. From the identified primary barriers, 81.25% of the participants reported lacking necessary skills to critique or synthesize literature.
Results: Our concern was validated that nursing lacked necessary skills to utilize foundational principles of EBP. To have EBP successfully embedded into nursing practice a strong foundation is critical.
Recommendations: Based on the results of the pilot survey, the EBP Council felt the next step was to survey the nursing staff, throughout the hospital, in order to identify perceived barriers in using EBP and understand their beliefs about EBP.
Lessons Learned: Promoting a culture of inquiry is vital to advancing nursing practice based on best available evidence. By overcoming barriers, nurses feel confident in their ability to incorporate best evidence into their practice, which promotes best practice, improving nursing satisfaction and overall patient outcomes.