Paper
Friday, 21 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Education Initiatives to Foster Evidence-Based Nursing
Use of a Web-Based Resource Area as a Strategy for Educating Nurses about Evidence-Based Practice
Robi L. Thomas, MS, RN, AOCN, CHPN, Linda Lillington, DNSc, RN, Linda Eaton, MN, RN, AOCN, and Gail Mallory, PhD, RN, CNAA. Research Team, Oncology Nursing Society, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Learning Objective #1: discuss at least two uses of the Oncology Nursing Society’s Evidence-Based Practice Resource Area.
Learning Objective #2: describe the population using the Evidence-Based Practice Resource Area.
Evidence for nursing practice is expanding exponentially, creating a demand to bring new knowledge to the bedside. The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) has responded to this need by creating a state-of-the-art online Evidence-Based Practice Resource Area (EBPRA), www.ons.org/evidence providing nurses with access to the best evidence along with guidance and tools to implement the evidence-based practice (EBP) process. Features include: definitions; description of the EBP process; references for systematic/integrated reviews on clinical topics; and a toolkit for practitioners. Levels of evidence for interventions for oncology specific symptoms and tools to measure nursing-sensitive outcomes are also on the site. The ONS Research Team collaborates with members to continually evaluate and update the site.    

A survey is available on the EBPRA requesting feedback from users. Completed surveys and visits to the site are monitored monthly. Trends in survey findings demonstrate ONS’s success in reaching its targeted audience. Users represent varied positions and roles: 36% staff nurses, 19% APN’s, 10% researchers; 55% identify primary care as their patient population, 19% focus on research and 12% on education. They find the EBPRA easy to use (91%) and indicate that information gleaned is used to create practice changes (46%) and prepare lectures and educational projects for nursing students (42%).  Monthly visit reports indicate that the EBPRA is the most frequently visited ONS Website Resource Area (9,876 views in November 2005, comprising 64.8% of total visits to the ONS Resource Areas). 

The EBPRA serves as an online resource to nurses wishing to utilize EBP in their practice with additional oncology specific resources. Enhancements of the EBPRA are planned to continue meeting the needs of oncology nurses as they work to provide quality cancer care. These include development of an outcomes resource area, and tools to assist hospitals in meeting the EBP requirements for Magnet status.  
 
 

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See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)