Nurses’ Perception on Evidence Based Practice in Tertiary Hospital of Nepal: A Quantitative Cross-sectional Study

Background: The evidence-based practice movement has spread globally, prompting calls for evidence-based policymaking and public health. Health care being the dynamic discipline with research, is, intended to improve practice through evidence-based novel approaches. As evidence based practice (EBP) among nurses is essential for improving the quality of care, fewer pieces of evidence are available in Nepal. This study aimed to assess the perception of evidence-based practice among nurses of a tertiary hospital in Nepal. Methods: We conducted a quantitative cross-sectional study among the 100 nurses of Bir Hospital in Kathmandu. The self-administered questionnaires were applied using the survey instrument by Upton and Upton. A purposive sampling technique was employed. We calculated the mean score to assess the nurses’ perceptions in the three sub-scales of knowledge, attitude, and use of evidence-based practice. Bivariate analysis was performed to examine the relationship between subscales. Results: The majority (89.0%) of nurses did not receive training on evidence-based practices. The mean score of knowledge on EBP was 4.47±1.11, the mean score of attitude on EBP was 4.45±1.06, and the mean score of EBP use was 4.18±1.42. EBP knowledge, attitude, and use were not significantly associated with the selected demographic variables (age, work experience, EBP training and marital status). Conclusion: Nurses’ perceptions of evidence-based practice were moderate. The implementation of EBP use needs to be strengthened among the nurses. Nurses need to be more involved in the implementation of EBP. To incorporate evidence in practice, nurses require training and support from high authorities.