Evaluation of evidence-based practice learning among undergraduate nursing students: Relationship between self-reported and objective assessment

Abstract

Background: Self-reported scales and objective measurement tools are used to assess Evidence-based Practice (EBP) learning. An agreement between these measures has not been widely investigated among nursing students.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between EBP competency in undergraduate nursing students, defined as the capability to choose and use an integrated combination of EBP knowledge, skills and attitudes, evaluated with the self-reported EBP-COQ questionnaire and the final test score of an EBP course included in a Nursing Degree Program.

Design: A cross-sectional study was carried out.

Settings: University of Murcia (Spain), Nursing Degree, academic year 2019/2020.

Participants: The study population was comprised by 210 4th-year undergraduate nursing students enrolled in the Clinical Practice and Evidence-based Nursing course. All the students were invited to participate.

Methods: A validated EBP-COQ questionnaire (1 "lowest score" to 5 "highest score") and an objective test (score from 0 to 10) were used to assess EBP competency. The SPSS 26.0 program was used to perform descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses.

Results: 152 students participated (response rate 72.4%), the sample was 81.4% female, and the median age was 20 years old; 76.3% attended more than 75% of the class hours. After the EBP course, the students obtained a high overall EBP competency score (mean = 4.21; SD = 0.26). The mean score on the objective test was 6.86 (SD = 1.36). A moderate positive correlation was found between the subjective and objective EBP competency measurements (Pearson's correlation coefficient 0.5; p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: Our findings contribute with new and significant evidence of the convergent validity of the EBP-COQ questionnaire, which increases the value of this instrument for evaluating the EBP competency of Nursing Degree students.

Keywords: Competence assessment; Correlation; Evidence-based practice; Objectively measured competence; Self-perceived; Undergraduate nursing students.