Egyptian and Jordanian nurse educators' perception of barriers preventing the implementation of evidence-based practice: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Studies discussing nurse educators' attitudes, knowledge/skills, practicing of evidence-based practice (EBP) and barriers encountered towards implementation is somewhat limited.

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed to identify the attitudes, perceived knowledge/skills, and implementation of evidence-based as perceived by nurse educators, in Egyptian and Jordanian universities, and to assess factors preventing them from adopting it in nursing program.

DESIGN/SETTING/RESPONDENTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional design was conducted including two groups from Egypt and Jordan. Two questionnaires: (i) The Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire (EBPQ) and (ii) The Developing Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire (DEBPQ) and a demographic data sheet were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and descriptive and inferential statistics tabulated.

RESULTS

Majority of the respondents (85.5%) were females, <40 years old (62.1%), and from medical-surgical nursing departments (49.2%). The mean score of EBPQ was 4.96 ± standard deviation 0.91. Frequency of practicing EBP and attitudes toward EBP scores were similar between nurse educators in both countries (p > 0.05). However, the Jordanian staff had a remarkably higher perceived knowledge/skills of EBP than their Egyptian counterparts (Mean Rank = 79.98 & 57.63 respectively, at p = 0.004). There was a statistically significant positive, moderate correlation between attitudes, knowledge/skills and frequency of practicing EBP among nurse educators in both countries. The highest correlation observed for attitudes and frequency of practicing EBP was among Jordanian staff (r = 0.707, p < 0.000). Egyptian nurse educators had significantly higher perceived barriers to finding and reviewing evidence than their Jordanian counterparts (p = 0.000). However, both groups had similar perceived barriers related to changing practice and support from colleagues.

CONCLUSIONS

Egyptian and Jordanian nurse educators, equally, hold positive attitudes toward adopting EBP. However, they encounter many barriers to implement it.