Knowledge, Attitude and Use of Evidence-Based Practice among Nurses and Midwives in Bucharest Hospitals

Abstract

Background and Aim: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is considered a critical element in safe and quality health care delivery. This paper is a report of a study describing the EBP knowledge, attitudes, and use of nurses and midwives practicing in hospitals in Bucharest. Materials and Methods: The descriptive, cross-sectional research design was conducted with a random sample of 245 nurses and midwives. The study used an online version 24-item validated questionnaire (adapted from Upton and Upton, 2006) to collect the data. Each item was measured using a 7-point Likert scale. Values between 1 and 3 were considered negative, between 3 and 5 were average values, and between 5 and 7 were positive values. Data were analyzed using the SPSS Statistics 20 program. The chi-square test (p) was used to perform the comparative analysis of the scores of the three subscales (Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices) according to socio-demographic characteristics. Results: Most of the average scores of the 24 items do not register positive values (m<5), with the exception of item “Level of knowledge in information technology” (m=5.20). The weighting of scores with high values is relatively low, for all three subscales, the lowest percentage being recorded by the Knowledge subscale (approx. 4% of respondents), and the highest percentage by the Practices subscale (almost 38%). There are no significant differences according to certain socio-demographic characteristics, the only exception being university education, which is assigned significantly higher scores for the Attitudes and Knowledge subscales. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the priority need to improve the level of knowledge and use of EBP in the evaluated medical units. Also, this study can be extended to the national level, and its results can represent the basis of the decision to develop a policy regarding the professional training of nurses and midwives in the field of EBP.