From Evidence-Based Practice to Knowledge Translation: What Is the Difference? What Are the Roles of Nurse Leaders?

Nurses, as the largest healthcare workforce, are well-positioned to apply knowledge translation. The role of nursing leadership in facilitating evidence-based practice has been extensively discussed in the literature, but this is not the case for knowledge translation. The objective of this study was to examine the potential role of nurse leaders in applying knowledge translation across health settings.

We reviewed the existing literature for evidence-based practice as best practice in clinical care; examined how a complex systems approach to knowledge translation may extend beyond evidence-based practice, and considered nursing leadership approaches including transformational leadership.

In this discursive article, we discuss the differences between evidence-based practice and knowledge translation, highlight the promise of transformational leadership in facilitating knowledge translation through a complex systems lens, and argue for the importance of nurse leaders in facilitating and supporting complex knowledge translation across healthcare settings.

Although future research is needed to test our ideas, we argue that the advanced conceptual understanding generated in this article should inform a roadmap toward a future in which nurse leaders initiate, participate and advocate for complex knowledge translation across healthcare settings.