Chapter013

Copyright © 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Chapter 13
Teaching Evidence-Based
Practice in Academic Settings

EBP in Healthcare Education
• Teaching learners to critique and apply research using
traditional methods is no longer sufficient to prepare
them for what is expected of them
• Teaching EBP has become an imperative in healthcare
education

Identifying Available Resources
• Ask, “Does the philosophy and mission of my institution
support EBP?”
− If not, efforts may need to focus on demonstrating
the effectiveness of EBP through the success of small
initiatives
− Must first obtain buy-in and support from all levels of
administration

Assessing the Commitment of Educators
and Administrators
• Ask, “What is the personal commitment to EBP and
practice excellence among educators and
administration?”
− Often determined by observation
• Ask, “Are there educators who have EBP knowledge and
skills?”
− There are numerous mechanisms to assist educators
in gaining EBP knowledge and skills
• It is necessary to assess the basic informatics and
computer literacy of educators

Building the Infrastructure to Teach EBP
• Administrators, educators, librarians, and students are
key stakeholders in the initiative
• It is imperative to have a medical/health science librarian
who is knowledgeable about EBP
• Champions and mentors play central roles

Question
• EBP mentors primarily perform which of the following
roles in academic settings?
a. Improving student and faculty’s understanding and
integration of EBP in practice and education
b. Performing critical appraisal of the evidence that is
foundational to the EBP paradigm
c. Assessing students’ adherence to EBP principles in the
classroom and practicum
d. Demonstrating the improvements in educational
outcomes associated with EBP

Answer
• a. Improving student and faculty’s understanding and
integration of EBP in practice and education
• Rationale: An EBP mentor’s primary focus in the
academic setting is on improving students’ and faculty’s
knowledge and application of EBP, both in educational
and clinical settings.

Technical Resources: Simulation
• Allows healthcare educators to prepare students for the
current clinical and community environments
• Replicate a real-life clinical situation for students so they
can experience the integration of internal and external
evidence
• Promotes participative learning
• Mistakes are not only permitted, but expected as learning
opportunities

Technical Resources
• Handheld Devices
− Can be used as a date book, to-do list, address book,
memo pad, calculator, and web browser, with the
ability to download health/medical software programs
• Clinical Information Systems
− Enhance productivity and can be used at the point of
care
• World Wide Web; Second Life, Twitter, and Facebook
− Provide information and foster collaboration

Question
• Tell whether the following statement is true or false.
• The use of a variety of technical resources in an
integrated manner indicates that a school is effectively
teaching the principles of EBP.

Answer
• False
• Rationale: Technical resources can be powerful tools that
can be used to facilitate the teaching and practice of EBP.
However, the use of technical resources in and of itself
does not guarantee that EBP is being modeled or taught.

Characteristics of Evidence-Based
Practice Teachers and Learners
• Excellence in patient care, clinical skills, and clinical
judgment
• Diligence
• Perspective

Cultivating an Environment for Teaching
EBP Successfully
• EBP skills inventory
• Educational prescription (EP)
• Teachers must prompt learners explicitly to provide their
rationale for their choice of information used in clinical
decision making

The Shift in Education from Traditional to
EBP Paradigm
• There is a change from preparing research generators or
critiquing research for strengths and weaknesses
− EBP education focuses on preparing the learner to be
an evidence user
− A new focus on integrating the three components of
EBP

The ACE Star Model
• An EBP model that provides an inclusive framework with
which to organize EBP processes and approaches
• Depicts the Cycle of Knowledge Transformation
− Stage 1: Knowledge discovery
− Stage 2: Evidence summary
− Stage 3: Translation into practice recommendations
− Stage 4: Implementation into practice
− Stage 5: Evaluation

Question
• According to the ACE Star Model, new evidence is
produced during what stage of knowledge
transformation?
a. Discovery
b. Evidence summary
c. Translation
d. Implementation

Answer
• a. Discovery
• Rationale: Discovery (Point 1) on the star is the stage
when new knowledge is generated by research
methodologies used in traditional single, original research
studies. This knowledge underlies the subsequent stages
of the model.

Strategies for Integrating EBP in
Curricula
• Keep it simple
• Use language that reflects the EBP paradigm
− E.g., changing the word “rationale” to “evidence”
− Review learning activities and assignments and
reframe them to reflect EBP

Strategies for Each Step in the EBP
Process
• Asking the clinical question
• Searching for evidence
• Critical appraisal
• Determining patient preferences

Strategies for Teaching EBP
• Should not be restricted to one instructor or to one
teaching episode
− Should be woven throughout the program
• Lectures
• Small group seminars
• Journal clubs
− Grazing
− Hunting
• Presentations integrated with clinical practicum

Principles to Guide EBP Integration
• Set clear deadlines
• Carefully assess skill levels
• Assure education has meaning
• Foster learning and growth

Evaluating Success in Teaching EBP
• Learner evaluation
− Classroom
− Clinical
• Educator and preceptor evaluation
• Curricula evaluation
• Program evaluation
• Final assessment
• Program effectiveness

Question
• Tell whether the following statement is true or false.
• The most important criterion of the success of an EBP
program is learners’ willingness to integrate EBP
principles into their thinking and their care.

Answer
• True
• Rationale: The ability and willingness of learners to
mobilize the principles of EBP in the ways that they think
and practice is the ultimate test of any effort to integrate
EBP into a learning environment.

Chapter013

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