Evidence-based practice nurses' competency: Spanish national survey and establishment of a scale of the EBP-COQ-Prof (c)

Aims To discover the level of evidence-based practice competency of Spanish nurses, to develop a scale of the EBP-COQ-Prof (c) and to analyse the influence of different variables on the level of competency. Background The evidence-based practice competency has previously been assessed using a wide variety of instruments, although these have methodological limitations and lack associated scales that allow for the interpretation of the score obtained. Method Observational, cross-sectional, national study. Using an online questionnaire, data were obtained between January and March 2020 from nurses working in the National Health System. An ANOVA was performed along with multiple regression analyses. The T-score and percentiles were calculated to obtain the scale of the EBP-COQ-Prof (c). Results 2,942 nurses participated. The score for the evidence-based practice competency was 130.29 (standard deviation 17.55). The multiple regression analysis showed a model comprised of 8 variables that explained 33% of the variance. Conclusions The Spanish nurses have a moderate level of evidence-based practice competency. The scale classifies the subjects into 3 levels: low, moderate and high competency. Implications for Nursing Management The scale proposed for the EBP-COQ-Prof (c) could be utilized to facilitate the diagnosis of evidence-based practice competency, and to monitor and plan individual and collective strategies to improve this competency.