Transforming Undergraduate Evidence-Based Practice Education: Active Learning With Clinical Partner Engagement.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Evidence-Based Practice
• Active Learning Strategies

Background:

• Undergraduate nursing curricula include evidence-based practice (EBP) concepts, yet many nurses lack EBP competency upon graduation.
• Nursing schools are revising curricula to enhance EBP competency and produce practice-ready graduates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a semester-long evidence-based practice (EBP) activity designed to improve undergraduate nursing students' EBP competency.
• To leverage team-based active learning and academic-practice partnerships to enhance student learning.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a semester-long, team-based active learning activity in a large classroom setting.
• Integration of an experiential component with academic-practice partner engagement.
• Focus on addressing a real clinical issue relevant to practice partners.

Main Results:

• The multifaceted active learning approach, including experiential learning, engaged students with authentic clinical problems.
• Students demonstrated strong performance on end-of-semester EBP assessments.
• The activity facilitated the development of evidence-based solutions by students.

Conclusions:

• Combining active learning strategies with practice partner collaboration is an effective method for enhancing undergraduate EBP competency.
• This innovative approach addresses clinical issues faced by practice partners while advancing student EBP skills.