The Concept of Evidence-Based Education in Nursing and Factors Affecting It: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: A number of studies have been conducted on evidence-based care and factors affecting it however, this concept has not been explored, in Iran. This study was conducted to investigate the perceptions and experiences of nurses and nurse educators about evidence-based education and factors affecting it. Methods: The study was conducted using grounded theory method during 2009-10. The research question was: “which perceptions do the nurses and nurse educators have about the concept of evidence-based education, and what factors do they perceive to affect it?”. The study population was the nurses and nurse educators in kashan university of medical sciences. Purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews were applied to gather the data. In total, four nurse educators and 16 nurses were interviewed. Data analysis was conducted using Strauss method in three levels of open, axial and selective coding. Results: The participants defined evidence-based education as “education based on community and students’ needs and on reliable scientific findings”. According to the participants, textbooks, researches, students’ needs, the science of teaching, the experiences and contextual information of nurse educators are the instances of evidence. They believed that variables of "discipline", "educational content", “teaching methods”, " educators’ knowledge and experiences”, "role models" and " clinical environment" have effects on evidence-based education. Conclusion: According to the participants’ experiences, evidence-based education is based on community and students’ needs and on reliable scientific findings. They believed that several variables affect evidence-based education, but the clinical environment, influences other variables. Improving clinical environment can facilitate evidence-based education in nursing.