Improving DNP faculty competency and confidence with integration of an evidence-based practice champion model and educational toolkit

Title : Improving DNP faculty competency and confidence with integration of an evidence-based practice champion model and educational toolkit

Abstract:

Background: In academia, faculty teaching in DNP program courses have reported that committee members often direct DNP students back to course faculty when asked questions they are not competent or confident to answer. The significant lack of confidence and competence in the EBP process leads to a lack of support and guidance for DNP students through project progression. The purpose of the EBPQI initiative was to identify best practice interventions to increase faculty EBP competency and confidence. Evidence supports the inclusion of EBP education and EBP mentorship programs in faculty development to increase faculty EBP competence and confidence.

Methods: The Advancing Research and Clinical Practice through Close Collaboration (ARCC) Organizational Model was adopted to guide the initiative. The Organizational Culture & Readiness for System-Wide Integration of Evidence-based Practice Scale and the EBP Educators Scale were administered to all faculty. In response to the results, an EBP Educational Toolkit and EBP Champion Model with integration of Jakubik’s Evidence-based Mentor Model was developed and launched in August 2023 as an online course within the Blackboard learning management system. The Fuld ARCC Implementation and Sustainability Toolkit was utilized to steer the initiative. Completion of the Toolkit is an onboarding requirement for all new faculty. EBP competency will be measured, and data collection will be completed to determine the effectiveness in increments through 2023-2024.

Results: An EBP Champion was designated to support faculty teaching EBP. The results are expected to align with evidence supporting an EBP infrastructure and faculty development in teaching EBP to improve patient outcomes and robust DNP student projects.

Audience Take Away Notes:

• Discuss the unique role of determining organizational readiness in supporting, promoting, sustaining, and disseminating EBP
• Analyze strategies to build EBP Competence
• Replicate integration of an EBP Mentorship program within academia
• Identify models, tools, and theories that influence the adoption of evidence-based practice recommendations

Biography:

Dr. Christy Jeffcoat has over 20 years of nursing practice experience in Maternal Newborn Nursing, Women's Health, and Cardiac Critical Care. She began her nursing career as a Licensed Practical Nurse in 1998 and completed an Associate Degree in Nursing from Midlands Technical College in 2001. Dr. Jeffcoat then completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2014 and a Master of Science in Nursing Administration in 2016, both from Oklahoma Wesleyan University. In 2019, she completed a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Alabama Huntsville. Dr. Jeffcoat’s research areas of interest are women’s health, maternal mental health, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, lateral violence in nursing, EBPQI, EBP mentorship, and EBP implementation science. Dr. Jeffcoat is an EBP DNP Postdoctoral Fellow with the Helene Fuld National Institute of Evidence-based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare.