Systematic implementation of EBP is essential to effectively improving the quality and consistency of care as well as patient outcomes. However, previous studies have shown that nurses and other healthcare professionals do not consistently use evidence in practice. This overview of systematic reviews critically appraises the state of healthcare professionals’ EBP competencies worldwide and evaluates the quality of reporting of their EBP competencies. The purpose of this overview of systematic reviews is thus to review the EBP competencies of healthcare professionals, as well as to compare and contrast the EBP competencies of nurses and other healthcare professionals across the disciplines.
Methods:
An overview of systematic reviews, i.e., a systematic review of systematic reviews, was conducted in the Fall of 2017. Systematic searches were conducted in July-August 2017 in PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and SCOPUS for studies of healthcare professionals’ EBP competencies. A total of 3,932 titles published in peer-reviewed international journals between January 2012 and July 2017 were screened, of which 15 were considered for inclusion. After reviewing full text articles, 11 systematic reviews containing 197 source studies with over 44,000 participants were included in the overview. Critical appraisal of methodological quality of the included systematic reviews was independently conducted by 3 reviewers.
Results:
Some overlap was found across the reviews included in the overview: 197 source studies included in the systematic reviews related to 135 separate studies, of which 42 were included in more than one systematic review. Heterogeneous study designs and outcome measures were used to assess the EBP competencies of healthcare professionals and critically appraise the quality of the source studies included in the systematic reviews. Although healthcare professionals' EBP attitudes toward and beliefs about the value of EBP in improving care quality and patient outcomes were high, they did not translate into practice, as implementation of EBP was low across the healthcare disciplines. In addition, the self-reported EBP knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals were at a low to moderate level across the healthcare disciplines. The methodological quality of the included systematic reviews was moderate; however, the quality of reporting the results of the included systematic reviews was poor.
Conclusion:
Healthcare professionals’ EBP competencies vary considerably, both across the healthcare disciplines and in terms of level of competency in the various EBP competency categories, i.e., EBP knowledge, EBP attitudes and beliefs, EBP skills, and EBP implementation.
See more of: Research Sessions: Oral Paper & Posters