Unit Leadership and Climates for Evidence-Based Practice Implementation in Acute Care: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to (a) describe nurse manager (NM) leadership behaviors for evidence-based practice, NM evidence-based practice competencies, and unit climates for evidence-based practice implementation in acute care, and (b) test for differences in NMs' and staff nurses' (RNs') perceptions.

Design: A multisite cross-sectional design was used to collect data from a sample of 24 NMs and 553 RNs from 24 adult medical-surgical units in seven U.S. community hospitals.

Methods: Responses were collected using electronic questionnaires, inclusive of the Nurse Manager Evidence-Based Practice Competency Scale (NM only), Implementation Leadership Scale, and Implementation Climate Scale. E-mail reminders and gift card lottery drawings encouraged response. Descriptive statistics described total and subscale scores by role. Differences in perceptions were evaluated using independent t-tests with Bonferroni correction (α = .05).

Findings: 23 NMs and 287 RNs responded (95.8% and 51.9% response rates, respectively). NMs reported they were "somewhat competent" in evidence-based practice (M = 1.62 [SD = 0.5]; 0-3 scale). NMs and RNs perceived leadership behaviors (NM: M = 2.73 [SD = 0.46]; RN: M = 2.88 [SD = 0.78]; 0-4 scale) and unit climates for evidence-based practice implementation (NM: M = 2.16 [SD = 0.67]; RN: M = 2.24 [SD = 0.74]; 0-4 scale) as evident to a "moderate extent." RN and NM perceptions differed significantly on the Proactive (p = .01) and Knowledgeable (p < .001) leadership subscales.

Conclusions: Evidence-based practice competencies and leadership behaviors of NMs, and unit climates for evidence-based practice were modest at best and interventions are needed. To close the research to practice gap, future studies should investigate the interplay between social dynamic context factors and implementation strategies to promote uptake of evidence-based practices.

Clinical relevance: Critical attention is needed to build organizational capacity for evidence-based practices through development of unit leadership and climate for evidence-based practice to accelerate routine use of evidence-based practices for improving care delivery and patient outcomes. The three instruments described herein provide a foundation for nurse leaders to assess these dynamic context factors and design interventions or programs where there is opportunity for improvement.