Effectiveness of a Brief, Basic Evidence-Based Practice Course for Clinical Nurses

Barriers to the implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP) by nursing professionals include a lack of knowledge, inadequate skills in searching for and appraising evidence, and consulting research articles. However, few studies have addressed the effectiveness of educational interventions to improve their competence.

To evaluate the effectiveness of a brief basic online and face-to-face educational intervention to promote EBP attitudes, knowledge and skills, and practice in clinical care nurses.

This study was quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design with a comparison group. The sample included registered nurses enrolled in the free continuing education courses offered in 2013 by the Nursing Council of Jaén (Spain). The study included 109 participants (54 in the intervention group and 55 in the comparison group). The intervention was a brief, basic EBP course with online and face-to-face learning. The comparison group received an educational intervention with different content. The evidence-based practice questionnaire (EBPQ) was used to evaluate EBP attitude, knowledge and skills, and practice before the intervention, and at 21 and 60 days following the intervention. Two-way mixed analysis of variance was conducted.

There was a significant difference between intervention and comparison groups in the knowledge and skills dimension. The difference between groups was not significant in the EBP practice dimension. Both groups had high scores in the attitude dimension that did not change after the intervention.

A brief basic educational intervention on EBP with online and face-to-face learning can produce improvements in the knowledge and skills of clinical nurses.