Evidence-based Practice Fellowship Program

One of the barriers many hospitals face when implementing evidence-based practice is a lack of qualified staff to conduct the necessary projects. To overcome this barrier, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin launched an evidence-based practice fellowship program in June 2007. The program is an opportunity for qualified, interested staff members to receive intense mentoring for approximately 18 months while conducting their first evidence-based research project.

One of the research projects launched by the fellowship recipients addressed the question of how developmentally appropriate education and interventions affect coping with surgical procedures in the pediatric population. The fellows worked with their mentor to review the Iowa Model for Evidence-based Practice to Promote Quality Care, formulate a "well-built" PICO question, which includes identifying the patient problem or population (P), intervention (I), comparison (C) and outcome(s) (O) as well as a literature review. During the literature review, weekly mentoring meetings were held and the fellows received paid time to work on the project. The results of the literature review indicated that developmentally appropriate interventions were effective in helping children cope with a surgical procedure. Because the research studies reviewed utilized similar interventions, but with different patient populations, the fellows decided to first conduct a trial with Day Surgery patients. To assess a child's developmental level and coping style, the nurses added three questions to the preprocedure phone call which is placed to parents 24 hours before a surgical procedure. The questions help the nurses "know" the patient better by allowing them to understand how the child typically copes with stressful events, whether or not the child has had a previous experience in a hospital setting and how the patient responded to that situation. This information will then be utilized by Day Surgery nurses to individualize nursing interventions that are specific for the child's developmental level and coping style.

The goal of the fellowship program is to provide education and experience to help staff integrate evidence into practice, but the end result is much more. The fellowship program also has helped increase both employee and patient satisfaction. By supporting the evidence-based practice fellowship program, Children's Hospital has clearly demonstrated a commitment to the professional development of our nurses and the Magnet culture, and to bringing the best quality care to our patients.

EBP Fellows:

Topic: Skin Care
Erin Frtizinger, RN - Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
APN mentor: Eileen Sherburne, MSN, APRN, BC, FNP

Presentations:

Podium presentation at the 10th Annual Evidence-Based Practice National/International Conference, Glendale, AZ, on February 18, 2009

Poster presentation at the 10th Annual Building Bridges to Research Based Nursing Practice, Milwaukee, WI. on May 8, 2009

Topic: Psychosocial Preparation for Procedure
Lori Gottwein, CCLS - Child Life Specialist
Martha Fillinger, RN, APNP - Pre-Op Anesthesia Clinic
Karen Gralton, MS, PCNS-BC - APN mentor

Presentations:

Symposium presentation at the 10th Annual Evidence-Based National/International Conference, Glendale, AZ, on February 18, 2009

Paper presentation at the 10th Annual Building Bridges to Research Based Nursing Practice , Milwaukee, WI, on May 8, 2009