Can Nursing Students Practice What Is Preached? Factors Impacting Graduating Nurses' Abilities and Achievement to...

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Evidence-Based Practice
• Healthcare Quality

Background:

• Meeting national nursing registration requirements in Australia necessitates competency in evidence-based practices (EBPs).
• Understanding and applying EBPs is crucial for effective healthcare provision.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore factors influencing Australian nursing students' ability and achievement in understanding and employing EBPs.
• To formulate a hypothetical model for EBP competency in nursing students.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive survey method was employed with 375 undergraduate nursing students.
• Self-reported EBP efficacy estimates were collected and analyzed using Rasch analysis and partial least squares (PLS Path) analysis.

Main Results:

• Eight variables, including research analysis, critique, synthesis, communication skills, and witnessing EBP in practice, directly and indirectly predict graduating students' EBP abilities.
• Understanding and applying EBPs for clinical improvement is influenced by these identified factors.

Conclusions:

• The developed model accounts for 41% of the variance in nursing students' self-rated EBP efficacy.
• Prior exposure to EBP studies and concurrent clinical EBP experiences enhance student confidence in EBPs.