Knowledge, attitude and utilization of evidence-based practice among nurses in Tertiary Hospitals

The increase demand for healthcare, technology advancement and knowledge explosion has necessitated a paradigm shift from nursing practice which was based on intuition and tradition to evidence-based practice in nursing. EBP is a concept that has not been widely utilized by most nurses working in clinical setting in Nigeria according to previous documentation. Therefore, this study aimed to explore and describe the perception and utilization of evidence-based practice among nurses working in Federal Teaching Hospital in Edo state. A cross sectional descriptive survey design was adopted to assess the perception and utilization of evidence-based practice among nurses working in tertiary hospitals in Nigeria; Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital and University of Benin Teaching Hospital both in Edo State. A sample size of 334 nurses working in the two teaching hospitals in Edo state was obtained using a proportionate sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was a standardized tool titled “evidence-based practice questionnaire. Data collected were coded and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics of chi-square to summarize and describe the characteristics of the respondents and establish the relationships of the study variables and the respondents’ demographic characteristics. The findings of the study revealed that majority of the nurses are RN/RM (51.8%, n=158) while only (25.5%, n=87) are degree holder. The study further revealed that majority of the respondents has a good knowledge of evidence-based practice (90.2%, n=275). There was a significant association between the nurses’ years of working experience and their knowledge of EBP (p = .030). There was also a significant relationship between knowledge of EBP and it utilization (p=.001). Hence, there is need for the hospital managements and nursing leader’s to motivate nurse to continue to use evidence-based practice as a tool to provide nursing services that is safe, sound, high quality, cost effective. Furthermore, evidence-based practice culture and mentors should be created within the hospitals.