Faculty perception of the effectiveness of EBP courses for graduate nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Effective teaching is key in preparing students to become successful evidence-based healthcare professionals. The effectiveness of graduate evidence-based practice (EBP) pedagogy is not often a subject of research studies.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine how faculty from the 50 top graduate nursing schools in the United States perceived the effectiveness of EBP courses for graduate nursing students.

METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to explore faculty perception of the effectiveness of EBP courses. A web-based survey was used for data collection. A total of 45 questionnaires were subjected to statistical analysis.

RESULTS: The mean perception of the effectiveness of EBP courses for the whole sample, on a scale from 1 to 7, was 5.58 (min. 4.29; max. 6.73), a higher score signifying higher perceived effectiveness. The highest rated item concerned a school's access to different databases. The strongest correlations were found between the total score and the scores for items describing students' opportunities to strengthen and apply their EBP skills (rs = .66). The internal consistency of the Perception of Effectiveness of EBP Courses scale, based on standardized Cronbach's alpha, was .84, which signifies strong internal consistency. Faculty perceived themselves as most competent at the following EBP skills: (a) "Asking questions regarding patients' care" (6.56), (b) "Considering patient preferences when implementing EBP" (6.40), and (c) "Critically appraising the relevant body of evidence to address clinical questions" (6.40).

DISCUSSION: To strengthen the effectiveness of EBP courses, students should have more opportunities to implement their EBP knowledge and skills after completing EBP courses.

LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION: Evaluation of faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of EBP courses can help to guide the development of nursing school curricula that better integrate EBP. Further evaluation of the psychometric properties of the instrument used to measure perception of the effectiveness of EBP courses is required along with objective measures of faculty knowledge and skills in teaching EBP.