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            Few would argue that evidence-based practice has become an industry standard for the provision of quality patient care. Now it becomes paramount that evidence-based practice be made practical for the practicing nurse. Three facets – leadership, collaboration, and research – appear to be key to making this conversion occur. A grass root effort between an acute care facility and a school of nursing resulted in examining these three facets.  Each of the three builds upon the other ones. This symposium provides a forum to investigate practical approaches within each of these areas through collaborative efforts.             Effective, supportive leadership becomes the impetus for the successful implementation of evidence-based practice.  Examples of leadership opportunities will demonstrate the development of a framework which culminates in evidence-based practice efforts.  Nurses are champions for networking. The outflow of networking is collaborative projects. The successful implementation of collaboration efforts result in positive and exciting advancements for nurses. Two such collaborative ventures will be presented for consideration.  When considering the aspect of research, different phases need to be investigated. It is not a requirement for every nurse to conduct research.  However, every nurse does need to determine a mechanism for involvement in the evidence-based practice process.  Several different levels of research involvement will be discussed including database utilization and projects