The nursing profession is in the midst of a paradigm shift that emphasizes evidence-based practice (EBP) and quality improvement (QI) initiatives in order to improve clinical outcomes for patients and professional satisfaction for nurses.
Today’s nursing students must develop the skills and mindset they will need to routinely incorporate clinical evidence into their professional practice.
Against this backdrop, academic nursing programs must continue to evolve so they can ensure that:
- Undergraduate and graduate learners develop strong research capabilities and critical thinking skills, and
- Faculty educators have the tools and training to support such efforts.
Implementing a standardized workflow solution is particularly important for academic nursing programs to help them keep up with the shifting landscape. When nursing programs invest in technology solutions to meet these challenges, they can modernize their curricula to incorporate EBP and QI competencies and prepare the nursing students to transition smoothly into modern professional practice.
Choosing the right system
Ovid® Synthesis from Wolters Kluwer is a workflow solution designed to organize, standardize, and facilitate EBP, QI, and research projects. It provides step-by-step guidance to direct learners and educators through the entire research process. Designed as an EBP training tool for learners, Ovid Synthesis enables real-time collaboration and enhanced oversight of research projects.
Effective dissemination of research findings is also a critical competency for nursing students to develop. Ovid Synthesis provides user-friendly features that help students to curate their research project in a centralized evidence table, export the findings for internal or external review using a variety of standardized formats for dissemination, and create meaningful transition plans to translate their research into practice. The intuitive, step-by-step platform helps nursing learners gain the confidence and competence to implement EBP and QI practices throughout their professional careers.
The system also features dashboards that give students and faculty immediate visibility into all current and complete EBP and QI projects. This helps to break down work silos, minimizes duplication of effort among student groups and campuses, and allows faculty members to prioritize their time on students who may be faltering or require redirection in their project.
Three tips for engaging students and faculty with the system
1. Train educators using online and onsite support
It is essential for any academic nursing program to hold training workshops for faculty when implementing a technological solution like Ovid Synthesis. Such training will build familiarity with the full suite of features and capabilities among faculty. Once educators and mentors understand the value and utility of the workflow solution, they will become empowered to help learners use the system more effectively and efficiently.
Ovid Synthesis offers a variety of tools and services paired with award-winning 24/7 technical support. Their tenured staff of knowledgeable trainers from diverse clinical, medical, and library backgrounds will provide online or on-site training to ensure educators quickly get up to speed utilizing their institution's new resources.
Advent Health kicked off its Ovid Synthesis implementation with a virtual workshop for nurse leaders and educators. The goal was to ensure that its faculty understood the streamlined process for carrying out EBP research projects and the standards and objectives that were needed to ensure consistent student implementation across the organization and its multiple campuses.
2. Engage nursing students with an introductory workshop
Nursing programs should conduct an interactive, hands-on workshop early in the semester to ensure their learners are familiar with evidence-based practice knowledge and how Ovid Synthesis will support them in their continued learning and honing of skills. The goal is to allow participants to work through the various steps in a research project while becoming familiar with the user-friendly, template-driven formats and embedded decision-support tools within Ovid Synthesis. Nurse leaders and educators can present this workshop in person or via a virtual platform like Microsoft Teams.
Lya Cartwright-Stoup, DNP, NEA-BC, NPD-BC, and her team at West Virginia University implemented a 3-hour EBP project workshop that focused on the capabilities of Ovid Synthesis during its Residency Immersion Days program. The goal was to orient learners in the tenets of EBP and QI and give them hands-on guidance in the overall process methodology and the embedded decision-support tools. This enabled residents to gain confidence in using the system to develop complete PICOT queries, carry out robust literature searches, and curate and disseminate their findings in a streamlined and standardized format.
3. Conduct a research day event to allow students to showcase their EBP projects
While conducting an introductory workshop early in the semester is critical to introduce students and faculty to the full value of Ovid Synthesis, the nursing faculty should also consider scheduling a Research Day later in the semester to allow students and nurse residents the opportunity to showcase their EBP projects. These peer-to-peer activities help nursing students gain confidence in their growing capabilities and learn valuable tips and best practices from other students.
Implementing the right technology solution to support clinical research needed to advance EBP and QI objectives is equally important for nursing learners and the mentors responsible for training them. Train-the-trainer events, introductory workshops, and research day events to spur further collaboration and community among learners will help enhance the value of the program’s technology investment.
Learn more about how to utilize Ovid Synthesis for your academic program or institution and book a demo.
