"Research to Practice": A Practical Program to Enhance the Use of Evidence-Based Practice at the Unit Level

Purpose/Objectives: To assist clinical nurses in translating research into clinical practice.

Data Sources: City of Hope Quality-of-Life (QOL) Model to guide presentations and discussion, research utilization theories, and evidence-based practice literature.

Data Synthesis: Based on percentage of individual participant involvement, the four domains of QOL, and a knowledge survey.

Outcomes: Attendance, discussion, QOL domain ranking, satisfaction, and pre- and postknowledge scores. Attendance averaged 13 individuals; average discussion participation was 54%. The psychological QOL domain was most important (58%), and discussion averaged a score of 3 (1 = slow to 5 = lively). A one-point increase (scale 1-5) measured a change in knowledge.

Conclusions: The challenge for nursing assessment is to fully address patient issues in the psychological domain.

Implications for Nursing: A practical program can be formulated to bring evidence-based practice to the clinical setting.