May 2, 2011

Johns Hopkins Nursing offers new online EBP course

A new online course offered by the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing will use evidence-based practice to solve problems faced by bedside nurses, nurse educators and nurse managers and leaders. It will be available in May for individuals or for health care organizations and schools of nursing that wish to make it available for their staff and students.

“The online Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Course is an exciting approach to learning EBP in practice,” said Jodi Shaefer, an assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. “As an online program, users can learn content at their own pace. Modules are interactive, and learners can immerse themselves in EBP questions from clinical practice, education and/or administration.”

Stephanie Poe, chief nursing informatics officer and director of nursing for clinical quality and informatics at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, said that today’s nurses are challenged to sift vast amounts of new material to keep up-to-date on best practices. “Multimodal learning opportunities help nurses to gain competence in searching for, analyzing, synthesizing and translating evidence related to their areas of interest,” Poe said. “This course focuses on the necessary skills and knowledge needed to conduct EBP projects and is a wonderful addition to the health professional’s toolkit for successful evidence-based practice.”

Completely asynchronous and Web-based, the 12-hour EBP course is tailored to participants who can learn at their own pace, at any time; all that is needed is a computer with Internet access and a standard browser. A variety of teaching strategies are used in each of the five modules to help the participant master core EBP competencies.

An introductory module provides context for the use of EBP by nurses and describes the Johns Hopkins Nursing EBP model. The second focuses on identifying problems, formulating the EBP question and creating a project team. Searching for evidence and appraising evidence using standard tools are the competencies at the core of the third. The fourth addresses the decision to change practice based on the evidence. In the final module, the focus is the challenges of implementing change and strategies for successful translation.

The products available in the Johns Hopkins Nursing EBP collection—books, workshops, consultation services and now an online course—are the result of a decade of collaboration between faculty and nurses from the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and The Johns Hopkins Hospital.