Teaching advanced practice nursing students how to use the Internet to support an evidence-based clinical practice

In the past decade, clinicians have dramatically increased their use of the Internet as an information resource to guide clinical practice. The amount of evidence-based information on the World Wide Web (WWW) is growing at an explosive rate. Although the term "Internet" actually refers to the wires that link computers, and the term "World Wide Web" refers to the linked information, these terms will be used interchangeably in this article. Advanced practice nurses (APNs) need to learn how to locate evidence-based information efficiently on the Internet, how to evaluate the validity and relevance of the information, and how to use the information to support their practice decisions. This article describes a research course that the author teaches to APN students at the University of San Francisco School of Nursing. The course was designed to improve students' skills in using the Internet to support an evidence-based clinical practice (EBCP). The information in this article can assist nurse educators in teaching their APN students how to locate and evaluate evidence-based information on the Internet. It also can assist practicing APNs in using the Internet to facilitate an EBCP.