Evidence-Based Nursing Competence, Attitudes, and Associated Factors Among Nurse Leaders in Finland: A...

To describe evidence-based nursing (EBN) competence, attitudes, and associated factors among a sample of Finnish nurse leaders.

This study was carried out as a descriptive cross-sectional study.

Data were collected via an electronic questionnaire in 2021 from 215 nurse leaders registered in nursing trade unions, working as front line, middle, or senior leaders in Finnish social and healthcare organizations. A self-assessment instrument (ActEBN-managers) was used to measure EBN competence, attitudes, and supporting structures. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, analysis of variance, and linear regression. The reliability of the ActEBN-managers instrument was 0.893.

In this sample of Finnish nurse leaders, EBN competence and attitudes were overall good. EBN competence and attitudes were associated with several background factors, as well as with factors related to organizational support structures and culture, in the independent group analyses. An independent statistical association was identified between EBN competence and higher education (t = 2.074, p = 0.039). Furthermore, an independent statistical association was identified between EBN attitudes and the service provider background (t = -2.503, p = 0.013), with more positive attitudes observed among nurse leaders working in the public sector. EBN attitudes were also associated with the availability of a best practices bank (t = -2.591, p = 0.010).

The findings suggest that social and healthcare organizations may benefit from focusing on strengthening nurse leaders' EBN competence and attitudes by supporting their educational development, introducing EBN support structures more widely, and promoting an organizational culture that facilitates EBN. Nurse leaders play an important role in enabling and supporting the implementation of EBN.