EBP Beliefs and Implementation in Doctor of Nursing Practice Students

Evidence-based practice improves patient care considering social, cultural, and geographic factors. However, EBP is not fully implemented in the health care system, which leads to many medical errors that jeopardize the safety of patients’ lives. It is also essential to mention that the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is a strategy for preparing nurses for the highest level of clinical nursing practice (Melnyk et al., 2013). That is, assessing EBP beliefs and training DNP students is critical to promote clinical leadership to support EBP, which will improve patient health. This research aimed to evaluate the effect of the curriculum on EBP persuasion and implementation in physician or nursing students. Significantly for EBP is having a model, such as “Developing Research and Clinical Practice through Close Collaboration” (Singleton, 2017). A core policy of the model is the EBP preceptor, an expert physician who guides nurses and other practitioners to enhance their EBP knowledge and skills and implement EBP projects to advance patient care.

This article assesses a DNP training program developed from the efforts of faculty members who converted a master’s in several specialty programs to an EBP training plan. EBP was identified as one of the significant areas of the curriculum, and it also included two specific courses on EBP methods and techniques and three classes on DNP projects. Student teams completed systematic reviews (SRs) using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) model (Ubbink et al., 2013). Every command in their project seminars participated in modeling practice enhancement. Fifty-nine students were included in the studies from 2008 to 2012; a paired t-test for group effects demonstrated statistical significance toward the end of the research in trainees. For example, total EBPB, t=4.4(52), p <.001, and EBPI, t=8.4(52), p <.001 (Singleton, 2017). However, the investigation found an increase in SD of 1 above the average for EBPI.

Accordingly, the paper concludes that FNP-DNP learners who studied and applied EBP, guided by the ARCC model, reported advances grounded in evidence-based practice and accepted actual methods. The role of the mentor was also found to be critical in the teaching and learning of EBP in academic environments. Thus, using research findings, faculty can gather evidence to support curriculum review and identify best practices. Although EBP has been an essential strategy for education and training, more research is required to create a DNP curriculum (Singleton, 2017). That will be evidence-based and monitor the practice of DNP graduates to evaluate the implementation of EBP objectively.

My attention was caught by the fact that the studies were based on an evaluation of EBP curriculum outcomes, guided by the ARCC model, with DNP students preparing for the graduate academy and practicing nurses in New York City. Accordingly, the results cannot be applied to all DNP programs. However, the positive aspect that attracted my attention was the integration of faculty EBP preceptors into the curriculum according to the ARCC model (Wilson et al., 2013). This allowed students to engage the facilitators’ experiences to understand how EBP can practically occur because it is a systematic process that does not always conform to the theoretical information in the books. Thus, the interesting fact for me was that EBP does not proceed in isolation; it requires teamwork and systematic training (Singleton, 2017). Furthermore, my attention was grabbed by the implications of the curriculum, specifically the fact that learners reported an average of six EBP implementations within just eight weeks.

References

Melnyk, B. M., Fineout-Overholt, E., Gallagher-Ford, L., & Kaplan, L. (2012). The state of evidence-based practice in US nurses: Critical implications for nurse leaders and educators. Journal of Nursing Administration, 42 (9), 410–417.

Singleton, J. K. (2017). Evidence‐based practice beliefs and implementation in doctor of nursing practice students. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 14(5), 412-418.

Ubbink, D. T., Guyatt, G. H., & Vermeulen, H. (2013). Framework of policy recommendations for implementation of evidence-based practice: A systematic scoping review. BMJ Open, 3(1), 1–20.

Wilson, B., Kelly, L., Reifsnider, E., Pipe, T., & Brumfield, V. (2013). Creative approaches to increasing hospital-based nursing research. Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(2), 80–88.