Implementation of an Educational “Boot Camp” to Increase Nurses’ Confidence, Knowledge and Use of Evidence-based Practice in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Evidence-based practice (EBP) can be used to promote quality patient care, improve population health, decrease healthcare costs, improve work-life balance of health care professionals, increase job satisfaction, and decrease staff turnover. Barriers to implementing EBP include perceived lack of autonomy and authority to change patient care processes; and knowledge deficits related to EBP implementation. Limited access to research materials and inadequate leadership support also stifles implementation of EBP. The purpose of this project was to increase confidence, knowledge, and use of EBP by nurses through implementation of an intense, structured educational “Boot Camp”. A convenience sample of 27 nurses participated in an intense, five-day, face-to-face EBP Boot Camp, which included didactic, small group discussion and computer lab exercises. A pre- and post-test design was used. Paired t-tests were calculated to compare mean scores measuring nurses’ confidence and knowledge in the use of EBP. A statistically significant increase in confidence (p = .000) and knowledge (p = .001) in the use of EBP was noted with an eta squared statistic indicating a large effect size for both, 0.75 and 0.34, respectively. Findings suggest an intense, structured EBP educational offering will increase confidence and knowledge in the use of EBP