Change in Beliefs about Evidence-Based Practice Due to Participation in a Unit-Based Journal Club

Background: Providing care in the hospital has become more complex and specialized. In order to keep up with the demand of ever increasing knowledge about evidence based practice, patient care providers are encouraged to read, understand, and implement the current literature. One strategy to update knowledge of current evidence is participation in a journal club.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the following hypothesis: Participation in a unit-based journal club will improve perspectives about evidence-based practice as evidenced by an increase in scores on the EBP Belief Scale.
Design: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with pre-post comparison using a survey of EBP beliefs.
Methods: Conducted on an ortho/trauma acute care unit of an academic medical center in the South Eastern United States, the study included a pre-survey, 4 months of in person journal club meetings, and a post-survey to evaluate changes. Nine participants completed the pre and post survey.
Results: A statistically significant improvement was found between pre and post scores (t=3.57, df=8, p=0.0007) on the EBP Belief Scale following participation in this monthly journal club.
Conclusions: Participation in this monthly journal club significantly improved the nurses’ beliefs in evidence based practice. Instituting journal club meetings on a unit can increase nurses’ beliefs in evidence based practice and therefore may improve care for patients.