Scores of Evidence-Based Knowledge, Practice and Attitude Among Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

To describe the level of knowledge, skills, practice, attitude and overall score of EBP among nurses at all levels, including nurse aides, Registered Nurses (RNs), nurse managers and directors.

A descriptive, cross-sectional, survey-based study.

The study was conducted between June and July 2024 at a single-site hospital in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The validated Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire (EBPQ), distributed to 359 nurses, yielded a convenience sample of nurses (n = 224). Descriptive data analysis, effect sizes and confidence intervals were done using SPSS version 20. One-way ANOVA was used for normally distributed data, while the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used for non-normally distributed data. Post hoc pairwise comparisons were conducted using Dunn's test with Bonferroni correction to adjust for multiple comparisons and control the family-wise error rate. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Nurses scored highest in knowledge and skills, followed by practice and attitude. The demographic characteristics show some variation across all domains, with significant differences in nurses' position within the practice domain (p = 0.027) and in the total score (p = 0.039). Post hoc analysis revealed that nurse aides had significantly higher practice scores than RNs (adjusted p = 0.033) and managers (adjusted p = 0.048), whereas no significant difference was found between RNs and managers (adjusted p = 1.000). Additionally, nurse aides had significantly higher total scores compared to RNs (adjusted p = 0.045).

Nurses score highly in knowledge and skills but lower in practice and attitude. Therefore, it is necessary to improve nurses' EBP competency through ongoing education and leadership support.

To strengthen the validity of the research, it was planned, conducted and reported in accordance with the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist.

None.