Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113803

Naomi E. Ervin, PhD, RN, FAAN¹, Sue Ellen Bell, PhD, RN², and Joan T. Bickes, RN, MSN¹. (1) College of Nursing, Wayne State University, 5557 Cass Avenue, Room 242 Cohn Building, Detroit, MI 48202, 313-577-5137, n.ervin@wayne.edu, (2) School of Nursing, Minnesota State University, Mankato, 2133 Fairmount Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105

The purpose of the study described in this paper was to identify the extent to which evidence is used in public health nursing services in Michigan local health departments. Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovations guided the study. The definition of evidence-based nursing practice used in this study was practice in which nurses make decisions using the best available research and other evidence that is reflected in policies, procedures, and guidelines in a health care agency. An investigator-developed survey was sent to the public health nursing administrators of 45 Michigan local health departments to obtain data about use of evidence in practice. Completed surveys were collected from 36 (80%) of the 45 health departments. The responding health departments serve populations from 36,000 to almost 1.2 million people and employ from 3 to 175 nurses. Twenty-seven (75%) of the agencies indicated that they use evidence as a basis for public health nursing services. The most frequently indicated evidence-based services were prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, home visiting to pregnant women and teen pregnancy prevention. Only 5 (13.8%) health departments indicated having a position designated specifically for incorporating evidence into practice. The most common model used to guide the implementation of evidence into practice was the Public Health Nursing model from the Minnesota Department of Health. Directions for continued research include: how agencies use models for evidence-based practice, priority areas for evidence-based procedures, approaches used to keep evidence-based procedures current, and patterns of evidence-based public health nursing practice in other states.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the presentation, the learner will be able to

• define evidence-based nursing practice.
• describe the general level of use of evidence in public health nursing services in Michigan.
• list problems related to the use of evidence in local health departments.
• describe directions for future research about evidence-based public health nursing practice.

Keywords: Evidence Based Practice,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation