Evaluation of the Knowledge and Performance of Nursing Students Regarding Evidence-Based Care

In recent years, evidence-based care has been recognized as one of the essential competencies of nursing graduates. Since senior nursing students are on the verge of graduating, studying factors affective on the use of evidence-based care in their professional future and emphasis on educational programming to strengthen this competency are necessary. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and performance of senior nursing students regarding evidence-based care.
The present descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 43 senior nursing students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2015. Data were collected using the Persian version of the Nursing Student's Knowledge and Performance about Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and analytical statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient, ANOVA) in SPSS software.
The results indicated that the majority of students (53.5%) had sufficient knowledge of evidence-based care. The total mean score of knowledge of the students was 12.25 ± 3.34, while the majority of students (51.2%) showed poor performance. The total mean score of performance of the students was 17.28 ± 7.85. There was a direct correlation between knowledge and performance of the students (r There is gap between the knowledge and performance of students regarding evidence-based care; despite their sufficient knowledge on evidence-based care, their performance was poor. It is suggested that a suitable milieu for promoting evidence-based care is provided and theory and practice are linked through suitable planning, a review of the curriculum, and creating an appropriate educational environment for nursing students as future nurses.