Perception of Nursing Students about Their Evidence-Based Practice

Abstract

This study was undertaken to assess the nursing students’ perception about their evidencebased experience in a nursing college of Andhra Pradesh to develop criteria for improving the clinical evidence-based practice experience of the students. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted with the use of focus group discussions to assess the students’ perception about their clinical evidence-based practice. The participants were the group of volunteers (5 to 10 students) from each class of undergraduate course from second year to internship students. A total of 60 students were taken as sample size. The discussions were recorded and made confidential to avoid ethical problems. A demographic proforma, and a structured knowledge questionnaire were developed. Demographic proforma was used to collect information about the students’ age, gender, medium, year and clinical subjects. Five themes were synthesised from the data: Evidence-based anxiety, Evidence-based administration, Evidence-based teaching, clinical performance and professional development which were considered important factors in evidence-based practice. Results showed that the nursing students were not completely satisfied with their evidence-based practice. They experienced evidence-based practice anxiety and stress.