Evidence-Based Practice Models to Maximize Nursing's Contributions to Global Health

Despite the growing recognition of the importance of evidence-based practice (EBP) and Evidence Based Nursing (EBN), there remain barriers to the implementation of EBP and EBN in many countries including lack of knowledge as well as time and resources for full EBP implementation. The International Council of Nursing, recognizing the need to prepare nurses and midwives in EBP, has published a toolkit to help nurses better understand EBP so that they can make optimal contributions to global health care. This paper is based on a presentation made at the first International Nursing Conference on “Enhancing Evidence Based Nursing Practice, held at Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University in Nepal in November 2014. The purpose of this paper is to review the history of the EBP movement in nursing and health care, compare concepts of EBP with the concepts of translational science, implementation science, and improvement science, and describe the process of Evidence Based Nursing (EBN) practice. The paper concludes with a discussion of barriers to EBP, recommendations for strategies to address these barriers, and implications for improving EBN in Nepal and other Asian countries.