Developing an Information Literacy Workshop to Foster Evidence-Based Practice Among Nurse Practitioner Students

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Health Informatics
• Information Science

Background:

• Advanced practice registered nursing (APRN) students, particularly nurse practitioners (NPs), require robust information literacy (IL) skills due to increased role autonomy and vast electronic health information.
• Effective identification, location, and evaluation of health literature are crucial for NPs to implement evidence-based practice (EBP).
• Deficiencies in IL skills hinder NP students' ability to select high-quality clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) essential for developing treatment plans and performing EBP.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the development of a 4-hour information literacy (IL) workshop tailored for nurse practitioner (NP) students.
• To enhance NP students' proficiency in searching and critically appraising evidence-based research.
• To improve NP students' capacity for making well-informed clinical decisions aligned with EBP principles.

Main Methods:

• Development of a 4-hour instructional workshop focused on information literacy (IL) skills.
• Curriculum designed to address the specific needs of advanced practice registered nursing (APRN) students in identifying, locating, and evaluating health-related literature.
• Workshop content emphasizes critical appraisal of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and evidence-based research.

Main Results:

• The proposed workshop aims to equip NP students with essential IL skills for effective literature appraisal.
• Enhanced IL skills are expected to improve NP students' ability to select high-quality CPGs for clinical decision-making.
• The training is designed to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application of EBP in nursing.

Conclusions:

• Information literacy (IL) training is paramount for advanced practice registered nursing (APRN) students to actualize evidence-based practice (EBP).
• A targeted IL workshop can significantly enhance NP students' competence in critically appraising clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and research.
• Developing these skills is crucial for NP students to provide high-quality, evidence-based patient care.