Letter to the Editor: Evidence based practice, the Italian experience

A review of the role of nurse leadership in promoting and sustaining evidence-based practice

“…It is likely, as these under resourced countries also exhibit higher levels of missed care (Aiken et al., ), that EBP by nurses is inconsistent. Moreover, in some of these countries, where the profession of nursing is less well developed in terms of career progression and specialist/advanced practice, nurses are often not empowered to drive EBP as medical doctors are often the main source of EBP information and standards (Barisone, Bagnasco, Timmins, Aleo, & Sasso, ; Giusti & Piergentili, ).…”

“…Inadequate authority to use research or evidence is a particular barrier for nurses in these countries, especially for those who are reliant on medical practitioners as gatekeepers for EBP. As such neither the nurses, nor their managers have direct authority in developing or implementing evidence‐based initiatives (Giusti & Piergentili, ). This issue is further compounded by the predominance of English as the language of science, understood by few nurses, who are often reliant on medical doctors to translate new evidence for practice (Barisone et al., ).…”

“…Inadequate authority to use research or evidence is a particular barrier for nurses in these countries, especially for those who are reliant on medical practitioners as gatekeepers for EBP. As such neither the nurses, nor their managers have direct authority in developing or implementing evidence-based initiatives (Giusti & Piergentili, 2013).…”

“…However, there are also concerns that while commitment to EBP continues, there are also shortfalls in practice (Innis & Berta, ). Lack of resources, lack of English‐language skills, and lack of professional nursing infrastructure in some countries are some of the reasons why EBP does not translate uniformly into practice by nurses (Bressan et al., ; Giusti & Piergentili, ; Linton & Prasun, ). For example there are deficits internationally in nurses’ access to computerized databases (Linton & Prasun, ).…”