The purpose of the literature inquiry is to acknowledge the importance of adequate faculty awareness when teaching transforming evidence-based Literature into practice as an academic concern. The goal is to bring about adequate translational science competencies when improving academic standards promoting higher quality in nursing evidence-based education.
Background / Significance:
There is no doubt that the academic and clinical healthcare community has historically heard of the need to address evidence-based practice (EBP) for possible improvements in patient and family centered outcomes (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2005). The antiquated research utilization of the past, has been replaced with translational science competencies that focus on appraisal of the evidence for feasibility and applicability to the specific patient healthcare delivery problem. Within the context of the best available empirical evidence there is a reflection on quality improvement towards population specific patient and family driven interventions for postive and safe outcomes. Although many faculty members understand the value of this new transformational empirical view, not all faculty are able to clearly articulate it in academia and or for possible practice. Is it research based entirely or is it driven by professional experts who can competently appraise the empirical evidence in order to find solutions. As experts, does it make patient specific sense, and are nursing students aware that research implications, solutions, and outcome results may be often translated for healthcare professionals as tool kits, best practice guidelines, clinical algorithms, or as an improved standard, policy, procedure and or protocol in a healthcare facility?
If the undergraduate nursing student community is not clearly guided, coached, and mentored by expert faculty when defining the value of reasoning critically, appraising, comparing and contrasting research findings to the effects of proper dissemination as described by the various levels of evidence findings to improve a population specific problem, then we may have a research to evidence-based practice student to clinician translational science problem.
Methodology / Data Analysis:
Initial evidence was gathered for this analysis from electronic databases, journal references and citation searching reviewing articles derived from Pubmed, Cumulative Index to Nursing (Cinahl), and Proquest Doctoral dissertations. Additional evidence was re-evaluated and again research journals, expert opinion articles, and literature reviews were browsed in order to assemble a suitable set of pertinent evidence. Research articles were exclusively chosen on faculty awareness about teaching translational science to nursing students as the hypothetical foci. The literature review was conducted using electronic databases CINAHL, The Allied Health Literature, and CINAHL plus. Full-text, English-language, peer-reviewed journal articles and books focusing on nursing education, best practices and translational science with evidence published between January 2005 and June 2016 were identified, (Polit & Beck, 2016).
Discussion:
Evidence-based change is a national policy imperative and un-avoidable in practice,(Craig & Smith, 2012).Discussions about the evidence upon which academic faculty and nurse educators base their EBP teaching practice have been in the literature for more than a few decades as a concern. It remains to be considered a new troubled paradigm. However, the time has now come to expand the body of nursing knowledge towards translational science in support of competent nursing education while improving faculty knowledge, access to professional development and implementing pedagogical change. All health professionals must be adequately educated to deliver evidence- based patient-centered care as part of an inter-professional team, emphasizing EBP through research translation towards best practices, in the hopes of improving organizational standards for the greatest of good for all patients, families, and communities served. It is vital to address patient and family individual needs and preferences. Faculty awareness and competencies about evidence-based practice when teaching nursing students is crucial to nursing education and evidence-based teaching strategies when defining what is evidence, linking it to patient outcomes and making it relevant for practice as most significant,(Blais & Hayes, 2016). This is a must for today’s nursing faculty.
Findings / Implications:
A key barrier to evidence-based education has been identified when faculty teach research utilization without asserting the value of translational science towards EBP in professional practice. Integrating the needed skills to develop evidence-based practice into clinical and nonclinical courses and acting as a faculty role model addressing what is taught in the academic classroom versus the clinical unit, is an important variable to consider when developing supportive faculty competencies towards EBP in order to combat this historical gap. As individual patient-family and community preferences are consistently being comtemplated, care should not vary illogically from clinician to clinician or from facility to facility so that patients can receive healthcare based on the best available scientific knowledge uniformly.
As all types of educators collectively process the concern of faculty EBP awareness, the challenge is on helping both faculty, nursing students and nurses grasp critical empirical competencies for greater academic, clinical, and quality healthcare leadership potential. The energy needs to be re-directed in nursing education towards the development of nursing research translational knowledge and EBP skill acquisition. There have been many barriers affecting the advancement of EBP such as: inadequate conceptual knowledge, unrealistic pedagogical beliefs, inadequate skills related to EBP; lack of training in electronic database search competencies and evidence appraisal. This is a problem that inhibits nurses potential for intellectual access and analysis to the quality of the empirical literature; in addition to inadequate nursing education focusing on the conduct of research and its practice utilization entirely without connecting the empirical to clinical practice dissemination dots clearly. The Research/EBP education paradigm needs to be re-directed towards the translational process, and clinical application of such evidence based on population specific healthcare needs and preferences. It is insightful to move forward with evidence-based academic standards equitably; with a greater foci on the translational science process, in order to most effectively target the potential quality problems addressed in healthcare delivery today. Nurses and all members of the inter-professional healthcare delivery team, must entirely understand what guides evidence-based practice, appraisal of such evidence, and its clinical translational implications for best and safe patient outcomes.