Clinical Nurse Specialist Students: Getting Evidence into Practice

Problem and evidence: There has been a long standing disconnect between generating evidence and translating evidence into practice. Barriers to staff nurses using evidence in practice have been lack of education, time, and organizational support. One way to reduce these barriers is to employ Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS). CNSs can bridge the gap between evidence generation and transfer by seeking best evidence, teaching evidence-based practice skills, and guiding the change process as best practices and new policies are implemented. To be successful, CNSs should acquire these skills within their academic preparation. Strategy: In order to give CNS students the knowledge they need to bridge the evidence generation/translation gap, we instituted a year-long clinical implementation project where students craft a question based on the diagnosis of a practice problem, and search for and critically analyze relevant evidence. Based on this evidence, students design an intervention and then implement the intervention in their clinical practicum experience under the supervision of their CNS preceptor. Finally, students evaluate the success of their intervention