EVIDENCE-BASED NURSING CARE AMONG SURGICAL NURSES

EVIDENCE-BASED NURSING CARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HIERARCHY: PRACTICE, BARRIERS, AND FACILITATORS

Background: There is a limited number of studies in Turkey that jointly evaluate the evidence-based practice levels of nurses working in surgical units, the barriers they encounter in practice, and the facilitating factors that support practice. In particular, understanding the extent to which evidence-based nursing practice beliefs predict evidence-based care practice behaviors is important for designing in-house training programs, creating clinical guidelines, and developing in-service mentoring systems.

Purpose: This research was conducted to reveal the levels of evidence-based nursing practice among nurses working in surgical units, identify barriers to implementation, and define factors that facilitate implementation. It is anticipated that the findings will guide clinical managers, education planners, and policy developers in creating evidence-based improvement strategies.

Methodology: The research is a descriptive-cross-sectional study. The population consists of nurses working in the Surgical Clinics at Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine Hospital in Bursa, Turkey (N:350). The sample calculation for the study was performed using the known population sample method. The minimum number of individuals required in the sample was calculated using the Raosoft sample calculation tool, yielding a sample size (n) of 184 when a 5% margin of error and a 95% confidence interval were applied.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Nurse's Role
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Measuring evidence-based nursing knowledge and practice levels using a scale

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 184

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: AKİF BULUT, PhD; Phone Number: +905468722872 +905468722872; Email: akifblt23@gmail.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Nurses working in the Clinical Department (Surgical fields) at Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine Hospital, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Working as a Clinical Nurse (in surgical areas) at Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine Hospital, Ministry of Health, Republic of Turkey,
• Agreeing to participate in the study as a volunteer,
• Not having any visual, auditory, or psychological problems that would prevent them from completing the questionnaire and scales,
• Being a graduate of nursing school.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Not working as a nurse in the Clinical Department (surgical fields) at Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine Hospital, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey,
• Not agreeing to participate in the research as a volunteer,
• Having any visual, auditory, or psychological problems that would prevent them from completing the questionnaire and scales,
• Not being a graduate of nursing school.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Intervention / Treatment

Surgical nurses; Nurses working in surgical clinics and operating rooms

Other: Measuring evidence-based nursing knowledge and practice levels using a scale; Turkish Ministry of Health Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine Hospital Nurses working in surgical clinics will be assessed using the Research Use Barriers Scale and the Evidence-Based Practice Usage Scale to determine their levels of evidence-based nursing practice, the barriers they encounter, and the facilitating factors.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Evidence-Based Practice Usage Scale	It includes 18 items, including creating a PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) question about the applications, using evidence to change clinical practices, and sharing the collected data results with colleagues. A five-point frequency scale (ranging from 0 = '0 times' to 4 = '>8 times') is used to indicate how often participants performed each item in the last eight weeks, with a total score ranging from 0 to 72. A higher score indicates greater use of evidence-based nursing care.	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Research Usage Barriers Scale	The scale consists of four subdimensions: nursing, practice, research, and presentation. The "Nursing" subdimension contains eight items that assess nurses' value, skills, and awareness of research, while the "Practice" subdimension contains eight items that assess perceived barriers and limitations in the work environment. The "Research" sub-dimension consists of 6 items that assess the quality of research, while the "Presentation" sub-dimension consists of 6 items that assess comprehensibility and usability. A score of 1 on the four-point Likert scale means "no obstacle," 2 means "minor obstacle," 3 means "moderate obstacle," and 4 means "major obstacle." Alternatively, the option "0-no opinion" is also included in the scale, but these responses are not included in the scoring. Therefore, the overall average score of the scale ranges from 30 to 120 points.	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: AKİF BULUT
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Yasemin Eda Tekin, Assit. Prof., Mudanya University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): March 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 17, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 17, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 27, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 30, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 28, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2025-9/6

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No