Evaluation of implementation strategies of the Best Practices Spotlight Organisations (BPSO) Project in Spain

Knowledge about the best practice guidelines in the nursing degree: A non-randomized post-test design

AIM

To compare knowledge of Nursing Degree students about Best Practice Guidelines when there are included as teaching content in a subject vs knowledge through having the usual internship experience without teaching specific guidelines contents.

DESIGN

Non-randomized post-test-only design with a comparison group.

METHODS

143 students of the nursing degree at the Autonomous University of Barcelona were recruited. The intervention group received a classroom training in three Best Practice Guidelines with Problem-Based Learning methodology. The comparison group only attended internship, without specific guidelines contents. Knowledge was evaluated with an ad hoc post intervention questionnaire. The information was collected between 2016 and 2018.

RESULTS

The average score of knowledge was low, 5.1 out of 10, and differs between guides. The best results were obtained by the students with internships and that had consulted the guides on some occasions. Synchronized effort and leadership in Academia and Healthcare are needed to favour evidence-based practice. The combination of the consultation of the Best Practice Guidelines in theoretical learning combined with the practice, increases the knowledge of the Best Practice Guidelines and will favour the implementation of evidence-based practice. Some students were involved in questionnaire design.

Evidence-based practice nurses' competency: Spanish national survey and establishment of a scale of the EBP-COQ-Prof©

Aims

To discover the level of evidence‐based practice competency of Spanish nurses, to develop a scale of the EBP‐COQ‐Prof© and to analyse the influence of different variables on the level of competency.

Background

The evidence‐based practice competency has previously been assessed using a wide variety of instruments, although these have methodological limitations and lack associated scales that allow for the interpretation of the score obtained.

Method

Observational, cross‐sectional, national study. Using an online questionnaire, data were obtained between January and March 2020 from nurses working in the National Health System. An ANOVA was performed along with multiple regression analyses. The T‐score and percentiles were calculated to obtain the scale of the EBP‐COQ‐Prof©.

Results

2,942 nurses participated. The score for the evidence‐based practice competency was 130.29 (standard deviation 17.55). The multiple regression analysis showed a model comprised of 8 variables that explained 33% of the variance.

Conclusions

The Spanish nurses have a moderate level of evidence‐based practice competency. The scale classifies the subjects into 3 levels: low, moderate and high competency.

Implications for Nursing Management

The scale proposed for the EBP‐COQ‐Prof© could be utilized to facilitate the diagnosis of evidence‐based practice competency, and to monitor and plan individual and collective strategies to improve this competency.