EVIDENCE-BASED NURSING CARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HIERARCHY: PRACTICE, BARRIERS, AND FACILITATORS

Background: There is a limited number of studies in Turkey that jointly evaluate the evidence-based practice levels of nurses working in surgical units, the barriers they encounter in practice, and the facilitating factors that support practice. In particular, understanding the extent to which evidence-based nursing practice beliefs predict evidence-based care practice behaviors is important for designing in-house training programs, creating clinical guidelines, and developing in-service mentoring systems.

Purpose: This research was conducted to reveal the levels of evidence-based nursing practice among nurses working in surgical units, identify barriers to implementation, and define factors that facilitate implementation. It is anticipated that the findings will guide clinical managers, education planners, and policy developers in creating evidence-based improvement strategies.

Methodology: The research is a descriptive-cross-sectional study. The population consists of nurses working in the Surgical Clinics at Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine Hospital in Bursa, Turkey (N:350). The sample calculation for the study was performed using the known population sample method. The minimum number of individuals required in the sample was calculated using the Raosoft sample calculation tool, yielding a sample size (n) of 184 when a 5% margin of error and a 95% confidence interval were applied.