Abstract
Purpose: A large academic health system identified a critical need for an Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Fellowship to enhance nurses’ ability to integrate research into clinical practice. This initiative empowers nurses to drive and sustain EBP changes, improve patient outcomes, and advance nursing practice.
Relevance/Significance: EBP Fellowships empower nurses to overcome barriers to EBP knowledge, implementation, and evaluation. Tackling these challenges requires a comprehensive, multifaceted strategy from healthcare organizations. Nurse leaders have embraced EBP Fellowships to boost EBP capacity in a meaningful and impactful way. Fellowships are an innovative, forward-thinking approach to the development of mentors and clinical nurses, fostering a culture of inquiry, and promoting professional fulfillment.
Strategy/Implementation: The EBP Fellowship is meticulously designed to equip nurses with comprehensive training in EBP knowledge, skills, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. Spanning 12-18 months, this fellowship combines a rigorous curriculum, graduate-level content in research appraisal, and intensive mentorship to achieve optimal results from conception to completion. Organization-wide dissemination of fellows’ EBP projects has led to plans for large-scale adoption and an outstanding response to subsequent fellowship calls. Descriptive analyses were performed on pre- and post-assessment data utilizing Melnyk’s EBP Competencies for Practicing Nurses Scale.
Evaluation/Outcomes: The acquisition of EBP competencies was validated by a significant increase in scores pre- (M=3.0, SD=0.20) and post-fellowship (M=4.8, SD=0.35). Results showed notable improvements in evidence searching, critical appraisal, and evidence synthesis. The fellowship included 4 fellows and 3 mentors, resulting in 3 diverse projects. These ranged from dissecting EBP guidelines and aligning practices, translating evidence into practice, to generating new knowledge through research. Project topics addressed health equity in pressure injuries, evaluated nurse well-being and examined disparities in heart failure patient mobilization.
Implications for Practice: EBP Fellowships empower nurses and advance nursing practice by building essential EBP knowledge and skills. They help nurses overcome EBP barriers, equipping them to meet modern healthcare challenges and deliver high-quality care. This Fellowship serves as a model adaptable for any health system.
Notes
References:
1) Christenbery, T., Williamson, A., Sandlin, V., & Wells, N. (2016). Immersion in Evidence-Based Practice Fellowship Program: A Transforming Experience for Staff Nurses. J Nurses Prof Dev, 32(1), 15-20. https://doi.org/10.1097/NND.0000000000000197
2) Dang, D., Dearholt, S., Bissett, K., Ascenzi, J., & Whalen, M. (2022). Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice for nurses and healthcare professionals: Model and guidelines (4th ed.). Sigma Theta Tau International.
3) Gallagher Ford, L., & Melnyk, B. M. (2019). The Underappreciated and Misunderstood PICOT Question: A Critical Step in the EBP Process. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 16, 422-423. https://doi.org/10.1111/wvn.12408
4) Kerr, H., & Rainey, D. (2021). Addressing the current challenges of adopting evidence-based practice in nursing. British Journal of Nursing (Mark Allen Publishing), 30(16), 970-974. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2021.30.16.970
5)Migliore, L., Jumpp, S., Fox, A., Huffman, S., Holko, H., Wiese, C., Grant, D., Bedford, T., Hicks, E., & Killian, J. (2024). Clinical Inquiry in Nursing Readiness Fellowship: Increasing Air Force Nurse Corps Evidence-Based Practice Leadership Infrastructure. Military Medicine, 189(Supplement_1), 14-23. https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usad083
Sigma Membership
Tau Beta
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice
Keywords:
Competence, Interprofessional, Interdisciplinary, Curriculum Development, Evidence-based Practice, Fellowships
Recommended Citation
Rainey, Kaci, "I Have an Idea, Now What? Guiding Nurses to Transform Ideas into Impact through EBP Fellowships" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 7.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/7
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-11-17
I Have an Idea, Now What? Guiding Nurses to Transform Ideas into Impact through EBP Fellowships
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Purpose: A large academic health system identified a critical need for an Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Fellowship to enhance nurses’ ability to integrate research into clinical practice. This initiative empowers nurses to drive and sustain EBP changes, improve patient outcomes, and advance nursing practice.
Relevance/Significance: EBP Fellowships empower nurses to overcome barriers to EBP knowledge, implementation, and evaluation. Tackling these challenges requires a comprehensive, multifaceted strategy from healthcare organizations. Nurse leaders have embraced EBP Fellowships to boost EBP capacity in a meaningful and impactful way. Fellowships are an innovative, forward-thinking approach to the development of mentors and clinical nurses, fostering a culture of inquiry, and promoting professional fulfillment.
Strategy/Implementation: The EBP Fellowship is meticulously designed to equip nurses with comprehensive training in EBP knowledge, skills, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. Spanning 12-18 months, this fellowship combines a rigorous curriculum, graduate-level content in research appraisal, and intensive mentorship to achieve optimal results from conception to completion. Organization-wide dissemination of fellows’ EBP projects has led to plans for large-scale adoption and an outstanding response to subsequent fellowship calls. Descriptive analyses were performed on pre- and post-assessment data utilizing Melnyk’s EBP Competencies for Practicing Nurses Scale.
Evaluation/Outcomes: The acquisition of EBP competencies was validated by a significant increase in scores pre- (M=3.0, SD=0.20) and post-fellowship (M=4.8, SD=0.35). Results showed notable improvements in evidence searching, critical appraisal, and evidence synthesis. The fellowship included 4 fellows and 3 mentors, resulting in 3 diverse projects. These ranged from dissecting EBP guidelines and aligning practices, translating evidence into practice, to generating new knowledge through research. Project topics addressed health equity in pressure injuries, evaluated nurse well-being and examined disparities in heart failure patient mobilization.
Implications for Practice: EBP Fellowships empower nurses and advance nursing practice by building essential EBP knowledge and skills. They help nurses overcome EBP barriers, equipping them to meet modern healthcare challenges and deliver high-quality care. This Fellowship serves as a model adaptable for any health system.
Description
Discover the secrets and lessons learned in building evidence-based practice (EBP) capacity through an innovative EBP Fellowship Program. This initiative empowers nurses to drive and sustain EBP changes, improve patient outcomes, and advance nursing practice. The fellowship combines comprehensive training, mentorship, and organization-wide dissemination of projects, fostering a culture of inquiry and professional fulfillment. A must-attend for clinical nurses and nurse leaders alike!