Abstract
Background Using evidence-based practice (EBP) is one of the core skills that students should have acquired by
the end of their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). However, little is known about how their beliefs about EBP and
their frequency of implementation relate to multi-component educational programmes on this topic. This study aims
to investigate the impact of a multi-component educational programme on nursing students’ beliefs about EBP and
their frequency of implementation at the School of Health Sciences, HES-SO Valais.
Methods This quantitative, pre–post-design study compared undergraduate nursing students’ beliefs about EBP
and their frequency of implementation before and after completing a multi-component educational programme on
EBP. The programme included integrative workshops based on the steps of EBP held during their clinical internships
throughout their three-year curriculum. The study occurred between September 2017 and June 2020: the start
and end of their studies. The programme’s impact was measured using Melnyk et al.’s self-reported EBP Beliefs and
Implementation Scales. Descriptive, comparative, correlational and regression statistics were computed to evaluate
nurses’ responses and scores.
Results Ninety-five eligible first-year undergraduate nursing students were invited to participate in this EBP study
and 81 completed the pre- and post-test questionnaires. Mean EBP scores improved significantly versus baseline on
both the Beliefs (49.1 vs. 53.3; p<0.001) and Implementation (1.7 vs. 9.0; p<0.001) scales. Cronbach alphas for the EBP
Beliefs scale were 0.799 pre-test (95% CI: 0.729, 0.858) and 0.869 post-test (95% CI: 0.823, 0.907). Cronbach’s alphas
for the EBP Implementation scale were 0.804 pre-test (95% CI: 0.736, 0.861) and 0.939 post-test (95% CI: 0.918, 0.957).
There were significant correlations between EBP Beliefs and Implementation scores (p<0.001). Linear regression
analysis showed that the programme’s theory-based component contributed significantly more than clinical
internships to raising EBP Beliefs and Implementation scores.
