Tactics for Teaching Evidence-Based Practice: 'Moo'ving to Greener Pastures

• Published in: Worldviews on evidence-based nursing 2015-02, Vol.12 (1), p.64-66
• Main Authors: Stoecker, Martiel J, Owens, Ellen B, Duxbury, Elizabeth M, Richardson, Michele L, Michiel, Elizabeth A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1741-6787
• DOI: 10.1111/wvn.12073

In 2013, the Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) Committee in our hospital sought to lead Nursing Grand Rounds (NGR) and revise these quarterly sessions to be more accessible and applicable to bedside nursing staff. Topics would be chosen for the opportunity to discuss the evidence behind practice. Marketing and promoting the work of the EBP Committee by letting more staff know about current EBP initiatives and what the interdisciplinary EBP committee could do for them would be an added benefit in accepting NGR leadership responsibility. For the first NGR under EBP Committee leadership, we decided to present on the topic of EBP. In the summer of 2013, five committee members volunteered to work on creative teaching tactics. The group was composed of three clinical nurse specialists (one doctorally prepared), one medical-surgical staff nurse (master's prepared), and one medical librarian, who also holds an RN license. Our goal was to encourage attendance and engage our audience with humor, while igniting an interest in EBP at the bedside. Many of us were familiar with a recent EBP article (Flynn Makic, VonRueden, Rauen, & Chadwick, 2011) which used a 'sacred cow' metaphor for outdated nursing practices and thought it would be a fun and memorable theme for our presentation. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2014), a sacred cow is 'someone or something that has been accepted or respected for a long time and that people are afraid or unwilling to criticize or question'. During a small group planning session, we compiled a list of 'sacred cows' that have been eliminated at our hospital and brain stormed as many cow-themed metaphors as possible. Working within the constraints of a small budget, we purchased a cow costume and created 'Wanted' posters that were distributed on our intranet and on our nursing floors, encouraging attendance. 6 references