Implementation of evidence based practice in a development project on nurse students’ clinical education

Synopsis: The evidence based practice (EBP) movement started at the beginning of 1970s in the field of medicine. The famous definition by Sackett et al. (1997, p. 2) defined evidence-based medicine as ‘the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients’. The idea of EBP was later introduced to other fields of professional practice in health and social care, as well as to the education of health professionals such as nursing education. The project named Knowledge in development (KID) focused on the development of clinical preceptorship in the context of nursing. Clinical preceptors are registered nurses and practical nurses who have the responsibilities of caring for patients and teaching nursing students at the same time. Nursing teachers working in the KID project were enthusiastic to implement the evidence based practice approach in the project work, by using different evidence bases. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present how evidence based practices in the project work were implemented and to describe the experiences of the project group members about the implementation of EBP. Project setting: Two universities of applied sciences, two vocational institutes and four health-care organizations in Western Finland. Year of project: 2009-2013 Target readers: Primarily project practitioners, project managers and teachers on the health care sector. Lessons learned: Based on the experiences gained in this project, the use of an evidence based practice approach in planning and implementing a development project in health care clinical and educational settings is recommended.   Competencies highlighted: Information literacy Related theory: The structure of different evidence bases presented by Rycroft-Malone et al. (2004), including research, clinical experience, patients, clients and carers, and local context and environment

A quasi-experimental study of a basics of evidence-based practice educational intervention for health and social care professionals

Education is one of the central interventions to promote evidence-based practice (EBP) in service organizations. An educational intervention to promote EBP among health and social care professionals was implemented in a Finnish hospital. The aim of this study was to explore the outcomes of an educational intervention, focusing on the basics of EBP for health and social care professionals, using a quasi-experimental study design. The data were collected with a questionnaire before, immediately after, and 6 months after the education (n = 48). The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests. Immediately after the education, an increase was found in the EBP knowledge of participants, in participants’ confidence in their own ability to conduct database searches and read scientific articles, and in the number of participants using databases at work. Six months after the education, improvements were still found between the first and the third measurement in the participants’ knowledge and confidence in their own ability to conduct database searches and read scientific articles. The number of those who had made an initiative about a research topic regarding the development of their own work had increased from the first to the third measurement. The educational intervention produced a statistically significant improvement on most of the areas evaluated. Significant improvements were often found even 6 months after the education was finished. However, the low completion rate and a quasi-experimental before and after design limit the conclusions that can be derived from this study.©2020 the Authors. Creative Commons Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Quality of clinical education A three-year follow-up among undergraduate nursing students in Finland and Sweden

The purpose of this study was to compare the experiences of a group of Swedish and two Finnish groups of student nurses (n=86) on the quality of clinical education over time. The data was collected using an instrument including four factors. In the comparison of the years 2009, 2010 and 2011/2012 (n=86), there were no statistically significant differences between years in the whole data. In year 2009 Swedish students (n=41) evaluated clinical preception and learning in clinical education lower than Finnish students (n=45). In the year 2010 Finnish students’ evaluated clinical preception lower than Swedish students. In year 2011/2012 Swedish students evaluated learning objectives in clinical education lower than Finnish students. The follow-up group and the dropout group did not differ from each other regarding the background variables or reports on the quality of clinical education

The required competencies of physicians within palliative care from the perspectives of multi-professional expert groups : a qualitative study

Background Although statements on the competencies required from physicians working within palliative care exist, these requirements have not been described within different levels of palliative care provision by multi-professional workshops, comprising representatives from working life. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the competencies required from physicians working within palliative care from the perspectives of multi-professional groups of representatives from working life. Methods A qualitative approach, using a workshop method, was conducted, wherein the participating professionals and representatives of patient organizations discussed the competencies that are required in palliative care, before reaching and documenting a consensus. The data (n = 222) was collected at workshops held in different parts of Finland and it was analyzed using a qualitative content analysis method. Results The description of the competencies required of every physician working within palliative care at the general level included 13 main categories and 50 subcategories in total. 'Competence in advanced care planning and decision-making' was the main category which was obtained from the highest number of reduced expressions from the original data (f = 125). Competence in social interactions was another strong main category (f = 107). In specialist level data, six main categories with 22 subcategories in total were found. 'Competence in complex symptom management' was the main category which was obtained from the biggest number of reduced expressions (f = 46). A notable association between general level and specialist level data was related to networking, since one of the general level categories was 'Competence in consultations and networking' (f = 34) and one of the specialist level categories was 'Competence to offer consultative and educational support to other professionals' (f = 30). Moreover, part of the specialist level results were subcategories which belonged to the main categories produced from the general level data. Conclusions The competencies described in this study emphasize decision-making, social interactions and networking. It is important to listen to the voices of the working-life representatives when planning curricula. Moreover, the views of the working-life representatives inform how the competencies gained during their education meet the challenges of the ordinary work.Peer reviewe

Educational interventions promoting evidence-based practice among emergency nurses : A systematic review

Introduction: Emergency nurses are expected to adopt evidence-based practice (EBP). The aim of this systematic review was to describe educational interventions promoting EBP and their outcomes among emergency nurses, compared with no education, to inform clinicians and researchers about effective educational interventions suitable for use in emergency departments (EDs). Methods: CINAHL, Cochrane, PubMed and Scopus were systematically searched to identify studies published between January 1, 2006 and October 20, 2016 describing educational interventions designed to promote EBP among emergency nurses. 711 studies were identified and screened; 10 were selected for inclusion and quality assessment. The studies were analyzed using deductive content analysis, and the review's results are presented in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Results: Ten relevant studies on nine different self-developed educational interventions were identified. Eight studies had highly significant or significant results. Interventions involving face-to-face contact led to significant or highly significant effects on patient benefits and emergency nurses' knowledge, skills, and behavior. Interventions using written self-directed learning material led to significant improvements in nurses' knowledge of EBP. All the descriptions of the interventions were incomplete, and the reported details varied considerably between the studies. Conclusions: There have been few studies on educational interventions to promote EBP among emergency nurses but the available results are promising.Peer reviewe

Asiantuntijoiden näkemyksiä palliatiivisen hoidon ja saattohoidon kehittämis- ja tutkimustarpeista

Vertaisarvioitu. English summary.Peer reviewe