Preparing for professional practice: How well does professional training equip health and social care practitioners to engage in evidence-based practice?

Abstract

Summary This paper reports on the findings of a study that aimed to explore how relevant initial training is in relation to evidence-based practice, and explore the perceptions of recently qualified practitioners about their confidence to engage in evidence-based practice. A cross-sectional postal survey was used to ascertain the views of nurses, social workers, occupational therapists and physiotherapists who had been qualified no longer than two years prior to the survey, and had qualified at one of three London Universities. Fifty questionnaires were sent out to each professional group (a sample of 200 overall) and there was a 43% response rate achieved. The results show a clear discrepancy between what are generally positive attitudes towards evidence-based practice and the value of research evidence and the infrequency with which they actually do make use of research resources and engage in evidence-based practice. A number of constraints to engagement in accessing and utilising evidence were identified.

Preparation for cancer care: Perceptions of newly qualified health care professionals

“…Data were obtained for all 4 sections, i.e. demographic data, evidence-based practice, team working, and cancer care (see Caldwell et al, 2006b). This paper will present demographic and cancer care data only.…”

An exploratory trial exploring the use of a multiple intelligences teaching approach (MITA) for teaching clinical skills to first year undergraduate nursing students

“…More specifically, concerns have been raised regarding the students' abilities in relation to drug calculations and medication management (Warburton & Kahn 2007;HSE 2009;Wright 2012), poor engagement with evidence based practice (Thompson et al 2002;Caldwell et al 2007) and the assessment of clinical competence (ABA 2005). Hope et al (2011) proposed that the profession of nursing needs practitioners with the requisite knowledge, abilities and work behaviours to meet the current health demands of the population.…”

Evidence-Based Practice in Practice : Exploring Conditions for Using Research in Physiotherapy

“…• can improve the quality of patient care (Barnard and Wiles, 2001;Jette et al, 2003;Salbach et al, 2007;Akinbo et al, 2009;Nilsagård and Lohse, 2010;Heiwe et al, 2011) • is helpful for making decisions about patient care (Jette et al, 2003;Salbach et al, 2007;Akinbo et al, 2009;Heiwe et al, 2011) • can enhance the status of the physiotherapist profession (Barnard and Wiles, 2001;Hannes et al, 2009) • can facilitate an increased reimbursement rate if EBP is incorporated into their clinical practice (Jette et al, 2003;Akinbo et al, 2009;Heiwe et al, 2011) • can yield improved relationships with other health professions as well as better working conditions (Barnard and Wiles, 2001) In general, physiotherapists hold favourable attitudes towards EBP and believe it is important that practice is based on the most up-to-date evidence available (Barnard and Wiles, 2001;Kamwendo, 2002;Stevenson et al, 2004;Iles and Davidson, 2006;Grimmer-Somers et al, 2007;Caldwell et al, 2007;Nilsagård and Lohse, 2010;Heiwe et al, 2011). However, these attitudes do not seem to be fully "translated" into clinical practice, as many studies have shown that physiotherapists continue to make decisions based on knowledge obtained during their initial education and/or personal experience, rather than findings from research (Overmeer et al, 2004;Mikhail et al, 2005;Bridges et al, 2007;Heiwe et al, 2011;Filbay et al, 2012).…”