Background: It has been demonstrated that staff nurses need programs to help integrate evidence-based practice (EBP) into health care delivery. Sigma Theta Tau International's 1999 white paper on clinical scholarship recommended close communication between nursing education and nursing practice as the environment most conducive to integrating clinical scholarship into the practice setting.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an accelerated educational program on the knowledge of and attitudes toward EBP among nurses employed in acute care facilities.

Methods: University faculty members partnered with nurse administrators and educators at five area acute care facilities to provide a program to develop EBP champions within the hospitals. Nurses were given time each week to attend classes. Faculty educators donated their time and one institution provided free continuing education credits to nurses who attended all sessions. Pretests and posttests were administered using Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt's Evidence-Based Practice Beliefs (EBPB) and Evidence-Based Practice Implementation (EBPI) scales.

Results: Forty-nine nurse from a variety of specialty areas and diverse educational backgrounds participated. Fifty three percent of the attendees had not heard of EBP. Correlation analyses suggested that education positively correlated with scores on the EBPB at baseline. Implementation of EBP as measured by the EBPI was significantly correlated with role at baseline. Demographic characteristics and study variable correlations were not significant at the end of the program. Paired t-tests indicated a significant (p < .01) and positive change in both beliefs about EBP and the number of times EBP was implemented in the work setting.

Conclusions: Regardless of prior knowledge, education level, role, or experience, nurses can quickly be assisted in valuing EBP and implementing evidence-based practice. Support from nursing administration and collaboration among educators, researchers, and clinicians are essential to the success of such a program.