Changes in nursing students' perceptions of research and evidence-based practice after completing a research course

Nurses need a sound education in research and evidence-based practice (EBP) to provide patients with optimal care, but current teaching methods could be more effective.

To evaluate the changes in nursing students 1) perceptions of research and EBP, 2) confidence in research and EBP, and 3) interest in research participation after completing a course in research and EBP.

A pre-post assessment design was utilized to compare changes in students.

This project was conducted at a small, private liberal arts institution with Bachelor of Science (BSN) students.

Two cohorts of third-year BSN students (Year 1 N=55, Year 2 N=54) who were taking a required, semester-long Nursing Research and EBP course.

Students' perceptions of and confidence in research and EBP were assessed pre- and post-semester using the Confidence in Research and EBP survey, which contained 7 demographic items, 9 Research Perceptions items, and 19 Confidence in Research items (5-point Likert scale; 1=Not at all confident, 5=Extremely confident). Two years of data were collected and analyzed in SPSS v.24.0. Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests and Mann-Whitney-U tests were utilized to examine the data.

Students had significant improvements in perceptions of and confidence in research and EBP (p<0.05). They were more likely to agree to plan to use EBP in the future (p=0.007), yet there were no significant improvements on students' plans to perform research or plans to participate in research in the future.

A Research and EBP course is an effective way to improve student perceptions of and confidence in research and EBP, increasing the likelihood of applying these skills to future nursing practice.