This is not only a problem for patients, but for nursing as well. The opinions and behaviors of the nurses with whom students practice may overshadow and even threaten acceptance of the EBN taught in the students’ classroom. This condition is often complicated by students’ reverence for the “real” nurses with whom they work in clinical. Students may see faculty as “Ivory tower”, outdated, or just not based in reality. Students also may be intimidated by the confidence and experience of the nurses with whom they work. After all, they may ask, “Who am I to question this nurse who has been practicing for twenty years?” If nursing students are to become agents capable of changing practice as evidence arises, students need to become confident in their ability to assess both the evidence and actual practice.

Intervention: Nursing students enrolled in a Childbirth elective were required to critique at least five nursing or medical intervention each clinical day based on evidence. Collections of evidence based research such as the Cochrane Data Base as well as other research reports were used. The critique included the circumstances in which the intervention was used, the opinion of the nurse with whom the student was working and political, environmental and personal reasons for the situation. Students also wrote “alternative approaches” to situations in which EBN was not observed. Results: Students developed confidence in their ability to read and apply research and make a case for EBN protocols and practice.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 21, 2004