Achieving evidence-based nursing practice: impact of the Caledonian Development Model

Area of Science:

• Nursing Practice and Healthcare Management
• Evidence-Based Practice Implementation
• Organizational Development in Healthcare

Background:

• The Caledonian Development Model integrates practice-development activities, benchmarking, and knowledge sharing.
• It utilizes communities of practice and a virtual college to facilitate knowledge translation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the Caledonian Development Model on promoting evidence-based practice.
• To assess the model's effectiveness in improving healthcare standards and patient care.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-four nurses from 18 sites participated, forming three communities of practice.
• Nurses implemented evidence-based guidance, supported by a modified group supervision framework.
• Outcomes were measured after a 6-month implementation period.

Main Results:

• Achievement of 80% for patient-related criteria and 35% for facilities criteria.
• Nurses reported increased autonomy (P=0.019) and organizational support (P=0.037) via the Revised Nursing Work Index.
• Focus groups indicated growing organizational support, work-based learning insights, and enthusiasm for the model.

Conclusions:

• The Caledonian Development Model successfully promoted evidence-based practice, with significant benefits observed at the individual patient level.
• The model offers a cost-effective approach to developing evidence-based practice, balancing diverse learning methods and resource pooling.