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The purpose of this presentation is to describe operational aspects of creating an environment to promote evidence based practice from the perspective of patient safety. Nursing leadership is responsible for the oversight of safe, quality patient care based on standards that are set by governing bodies, national organizations, and research literature. Within the Queen's Medical Center, all levels of standards are used in the establishment of best practices and the analysis of sentinel events. For example, best practices are in place to prevent falls. However, when an event does occur, a thorough analysis of established protocol and the research upon which it was based is conducted. When the analysis identifies either gaps in following established protocol or new evidence to indicate the need to revise the protocol, nursing leadership updates best practices or standards of care within the organization. Another example relates to medication errors. Analysis of the event starts with interviewing staff who were involved in the incident, and examining both internal policies/procedures and standards and the research literature to provide additional insights. As evidence emerges, new standards are developed from these sources and communicated through the institution. As we operationalize the expectation that practice will be based on evidence from quality sources, it is our goal that staff will become more proactive in assessing unsafe practices, breaks in protocol, and the need to incorporate emerging practices before sentinel events occur. Nursing leadership will continue to hold the accountability of defining and implementing safe, quality patient care and support the work of staff nurses in safeguarding patients. Creating an environment that promotes evidence based practice is the best way to achieve that goal.