Evidence-based practice competency and barriers among undergraduate nursing students in a Middle Eastern country

Evidence-based practice (EBP) competency is one of the key competency required for the nursing students.
Educators play a key role in facilitating the implementation of EBP by specific teaching strategies and interprofessional collaborations.
Assessed undergraduate nursing students’ EBP competency and perceived barriers to EBP implementation.
An embedded convergent parallel mixed method research design was used in this study. The study was conducted in two public and two private universities of Oman. Undergraduate nursing students (N = 610) rated
their EBP competency using the Student-Evidence-Based Practice Questionnaire (S-EBP). Semistructured
interviews with 15 participants explored their barriers to EBP implementation.
Overall, moderate (4.24 § 0.70) EBP competency was rated. Attitude toward EBP received the highest mean
score (5.05 § 1.3) compared to EBP practice skill (3.93 § 0.79) and EBP Knowledge (3.785 § 0.84). Lack of
support and time, difficulty in retrieving information, inadequate knowledge, and skill in EBP competency
were identified as major barriers to EBP implementation.
Nursing curriculum should integrate pertinent teaching strategies to develop the desired EBP competency of
undergraduates