COLUMBUS, Ohio—A new national survey of more than 1,000 registered nurses suggests that serious barriers—including resistance from nursing leaders—prevent nurses from implementing evidence-based practices that improve patient outcomes.
When survey respondents ranked these barriers, the top five included resistance from nursing leaders and nurse managers—a finding that hasn’t been reported in previous similar studies—as well as politics and organizational cultures that avoid change.
When asked what would help them implement evidence-based practice, respondents reported education, access to information and organizational support among their top five needs.
Evidence-based practice refers to making decisions about patient care that are based on the best evidence produced by well-designed clinical research. Numerous studies have suggested that evidence-based care of patients can reduce patient complications and decrease healthcare costs by as much as 30 percent.
Overall, a little more than half of respondents reported that evidence-based practice was consistently used in their organization, but only about one-third said their colleagues consistently used these practices.
