Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Evidence-Based Nursing among Nurses in Children’s Ward at Tertiary Health Institutions in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Evidence-based nursing care is the cornerstone of quality healthcare which integrates the best available research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values to guide nursing practice. Despite the importance of evidence-based nursing care, many nurses in children's wards lack the necessary knowledge and skills to implement this approach effectively. This has created a gap in practice of EBP in pediatric care which resulted in consequences, such as reduced patient outcomes, increased mortality rates, increased length of hospital stays, and requesting for discharge against medical advice due to longer hospital stay, among others.Aim: The study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of evidence-based nursing care and associated factors among nurses in children’s wards at tertiary health institutions in Anambra State. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was adopted for the study. Population of the study was 127 and a total population survey was used. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire, data obtained were analyzed using Microsoft Excel, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics for hypothesis testing and IBM statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29. Results: The results indicated that the majority of the nurses 105 (82.7%) had a good knowledge of evidence–based practice, 68 (53.5%) of the nurses possessed a negative attitude towards evidence-based practice, and 89 (70.1%) of the nurses had a poor practice of evidence-based nursing. However, several factors, such as lack of time, lack of resources, lack of knowledge about EBP, lack of access to research literature/guidelines, organizational challenges, workload and staffing constraints, among others were associated with the practice of evidenced –based nursing. Conclusion: Majority had a good knowledge, their attitude was negative and several factors were associated with it leading to poor practice of evidence-based nursing. It is recommended that for continuous improvement of knowledge and attitude, educational training opportunities, access to reliable research databases and mentorship programs are needed.