Description/Overview: Over the last decade, nursing educators have worked to embed evidence-based practice in curricula. Yet gaps exist in the preparation of the workforce educated prior to the infusion of evidence-based practice in nursing education. Three Joanna Briggs Institute Collaborating centers have developed and implemented clinical fellowships to address the professional development needs of clinicians. The fellowships build fundamental evidence-based practice skills that include defining problems, asking questions, searching and appraising evidence, implementing the evidence, and evaluating and sustaining outcomes. Because of the collaborative nature of the centers, each fellowship shares common elements; however, each uses somewhat different models and strategies to fit their unique contexts. All of the programs focus on designing and implementing practical, evidence-based solutions for high priority, patient-centered clinical problems. The Texas Christian University Center prepares front line staff through a series of workshops based on the Iowa Model with mentors employed in the fellow’s facility supporting the fellows throughout implementation. The New Jersey Center enhances nurses’ fundamental skills but focuses on developing expert facilitators based on the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Service. The Indiana Center blends aspects of both programs. Teams of front line staff and clinical leaders, acting as facilitators, attend an intensive on-campus workshop; Center faculty members serve as mentors throughout the implementation of projects. This symposium will address three key aspects of these Centers’ experiences. First, we will address how to build academic-clinical partnerships and how they add value to both the academic and clinical centers. Second, we will address how our Centers collaborate and discuss the curricula, models and costs of the programs. Finally, we will share our experiences with the challenges of implementing evidence and the impact of our programs on nursing practice and patient outcomes.

Learner Objective #1: Discuss how academic-clinical partnerships foster evidence based practice fellowships that develop front line staff and clinical leaders to solve high priority clinical problems

Learner Objective #2: Analyze the challenges and facilitators of building collaborative evidence based practice clinical fellowships and implementing evidence in complex clinical contexts.