Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Experience in Studying Evidence-Based Practice by Application of Concept Map

Background: Nowadays nurses should be competent in using knowledge in clinical decision-making for nursing intervention. Therefore, the application of evidence-based practice (EBP) in community healthcare settings is a crucial need that fortifies the quality of the provided services. The governmental policies mandate the application of EBP in healthcare services. The lack of EBP competencies among healthcare professionals including nurses is a barrier for achieving this mandate. Incorporating EBP in nursing curricula combined with interactive teaching strategy such as concept map would overcome this barrier. Aim: The study aimed at providing an overview of the experiences of undergraduate nursing students about studying evidence-based practice by the application of concept map as an educational strategy. Research Design: Qualitative phenomenology study design was used. Setting: The study was carried out at the faculty of nursing, Mansoura University, Egypt during the period from October 2018 until January 2019. Subjects and Sampling: Purposive sampling technique was used to recruit the study participants who were composed of 95 undergraduate nursing students registered at the courses of Community Health Nursing Department. Data collection: Focus group discussion (FGD) was used to collect the required data to achieve the aim of this study. Results: Undergraduate nursing students showed positive views regarding EBP and concept map. They showed interests in studying EBP and applying it in their future career. Nursing students were enthusiastic to use concept map in studying other courses because it helped them in understanding the course content and increased retaining of information. They found the concept map was very helpful in problem-solving. Conclusion and Recommendations: Teaching EBP by using concept map was accepted by undergraduate nursing students. The study recommended the continuity of teaching EBP for undergraduate nursing students and embedding the course of EBP in nursing curricula in post-graduate studies. Concept map would be used in teaching all nursing academic courses.