| Thursday, July 12, 2007: 4:00 PM-5:30 PM | |||
| Evaluating EBP: How Beliefs and Attitudes varied among Different Settings | |||
| Learning Objective #1: Discuss successful mechanisms for measuring EBP Beliefs in different settings. | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Describe EBP Beliefs in educational, acute, and community settings. | |||
| Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an established method for improving clinical practice and has been shown to improve cost-effectiveness of patient care. It has been described as “essential for nurses to establish who they are, what they do, and what effect they have on patient outcomes.” The effect of EBP on patient outcomes and cost has been discussed in the literature for years. For example, nursing practice based on evidence has been found to improve patient outcomes by 28%. Additionally, nursing care based on the best currently available evidence has been shown to decrease cost. Other outcomes that can be derived from the EBP process include practice guidelines and standards, all focused on greater consistency in care provided, better outcomes, and improved care provider satisfaction. All of these findings are dependent on what nurses believe about EBP. This belief can determine how it can be implemented and the culture shift toward EBP. Despite the recognized benefits of EBP on nursing care and patient outcomes as well as regulatory agencies advocating its integration into the education of healthcare professionals, there are little data about what nurses believe about EBP across different care settings and how students perceive EBP. This symposium will present 1) an overview of how important beliefs about EBP are to engagement in the paradigm, as well as how an established instrument can be used to measure students’ and nurses’ beliefs about EBP – the EBP Beliefs Scale (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2003); 2) students beliefs about EBP before and after integration; 2) nurses’ beliefs about EBP in the acute care setting across different contexts; and 3) nurses’ beliefs about EBP in the community care setting before and after a EBP mentor intervention. The symposium will conclude with a synopsis of the beliefs about EBP across settings and implications for advancing EBP. | |||
| Organizer: | Ellen Fineout-Overholt, PhD, RN | ||
| The Significance of Beliefs about EBP to Various Settings Ellen Fineout-Overholt, PhD, RN | |||
| Integrating Evidence-based Practice Principles into BSN Curriculum Susan B. Stillwell, MSN, RN, CNE | |||
| Acute Care Nurses' Beliefs about Evidence-Based Practice Priscilla Sandford Worral, PhD, RN | |||
| Nurses' Beliefs about EBP in the Community Setting Rona F. Levin, PhD, RN | |||