National study finds education and skills building in EBP is needed
The study and implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP) is an emerging and popular concept taking hold in in the nursing community. Yet a study led by Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, RN, CRNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, Vice President for Health Promotion, Executive Director of the Fuld Institute for EBP and dean of the College of Nursing, found that nationally, few nurses are fully confident in understanding and applying core EBP competencies. The study was published in the January/February edition of Worldviews on EvidenceBased Nursing. The team of researchers on the study included College of Nursing faculty Lynn GallagherFord, PhD, RN, DPFNAP, NE-BC, Cindy Zellefrow, RN, DNP, LSN, PHNA-BC, Sharon Tucker, RN, PhD, FAAN, Bindu Thomas, MEd, MS, Loraine T. Sinnott, PhD and Alai Tan, PhD.
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Using an anonymous online survey of 2,344 nurses from 19 hospitals and healthcare systems across the country, Melnyk and her team found nurses reported themselves as not yet fully competent in meeting the profession’s 24 EBP competencies. Those who responded to the survey were asked to evaluate their level of each competency as “not competent,” “need improvement,” “competent” and “highly competent.” For all but one category, respondents reported falling between the “need improvement” and “competent” levels. A majority of nurses reported themselves as not competent in leading transdisciplinary teams to implement EBP. “Our findings concern us greatly because lack of competency in and delivery of EBP threatens the quality and safety of healthcare and hinders our efforts to ensure positive outcomes for patients,” said Melnyk.