[Reading nursing Literature in English: new inputs for practicing nurses]

A prerequisite to providing evidence-based care is the ability to comprehend the nursing research literature, most of which is published in English. To facilitate this understanding, a course on "reading the research literature for evidence-based practice in English" was developed by an interdisciplinary team for staff nurses at the University Hospital Basel. The pilot course was offered to nurses who specialized in cancer care. It was led by the oncology Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) from the Department of Medicine. Research articles focusing on the management of chronic illness and cancer pain management were assigned and read. The course consisted of ten 90 minute lessons. The evaluation was designed to address the following questions: 1. Did participation in the course improve the oncology related knowledge of the nurses? 2. Did participation in the course improve the nurses' English language skills? 3. At what level of difficulty did the nurse participants perceive the course to be? 4. Were course participants able to use their newly acquired knowledge to teach their nursing colleagues on the ward? The course evaluation demonstrated that the 15 participants significantly improved their oncology knowledge through this process but that their English skills did not improve. The participants were able to present lectures on their wards based on the course literature, which were positively evaluated by their colleagues and the APN course leader. The participants perceived the course as being sophisticated but also effective at demonstrating the use of English-language research literature for one's own nursing practice.