Have No Fear the EB Detective is Here!Teaching Evidence Base Practice to

Undergraduate Pre-licensure Nursing Student

Kathryn M. Shaffer, MSN, RN, CNESusan Egger, MSN, RN

Key Message # 1Nurses should practice to the Full Extent of Their Education and Training

Key message # 3Nurses should be full Partners, with healthcare providers in redesigning Health Care

IOM Report

How She was BornFrom the IOM recommendation # 6

Ensure that nurses engage in lifelong learning.

QSEN patient safety frameworkKnowledge, Skills and Attitudes

Evidenced Based Practice

Evidence-Based Education in the classroom works hand-in-hand with

Evidence-Based Practice in advancing scholarly inquiry

Her Early YearsFaculty posed questions based on content that week:

Dear EB Detective,

I was recently taking care of a post-op patient with dementia. How do I assess their pain?

Eventually evolved to student driven question.

Ex. student question-Dear EB, On the clinical floor today a classmate had a patient who received a a few blood transfusions throughout the day and it caused us to raise a question. If a patient is on IV medications will the introduction of new blood to the system dilute the medications in the blood by any significant amount so that they will loose their effectiveness and potency?

Signed, A Concerned Citizen

Dear EB,

I've noticed there are warning labels on the back of deodorant packaging that states "consult a physician before using if you have kidney disease." I was wondering what the evidence is behind this statement and why the product would be harmful to a person with kidney disease?

How She has Evolved!

Now She Collaborates

Student Comments

“I liked the EB detective it was fun and interesting, definitely helps enhance learning.”

“EBP detective is important”

“Made classes more interesting with VERY interactive lectures”

“The Evidence-Based practice detective is fun and different from the normal lecture style, and gets me thinking. It helps me practice putting all aspects of nursing together to solve a problem”

Questions?For the EB Detective

ReferencesEmerson, R. & Records, K., (2008). Today’s Challenge, Tomorrow’s Excellence: The practice of

evidence-based education. Journal of Nursing Education, 47, 359-370.

Institute of Medicine, (2011). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Washington, D.C: The National Academies Press.

Penz, K. & Bassendowski, S. (2006).  Evideced-Based Nursing in Clinical Practice: Implications for nurse educators.  The Journal of Continuing Education, 37, 250-251.