ASU's College of Nursing will be the first college in the nation to offer a new graduate-certificate program based on recently developed medical practices in spring 2006.
The yearlong, 17-credit online program certifies people who are already clinicians, nurses and scholars in Evidence-based Practice, a recent development in the medical field.
The certificate is in line with the New American University initiative, as it puts ASU at the forefront of the EBP movement, said Alyce Schultz, associate director of ASU's Center for the Advancement of Evidence-based Practice.
EBP focuses on improving patient care by training nurses to implement research findings in their daily practice, said CAEP Director Ellen Fineout-Overholt.
"This process is a new way of thinking, not just an enhancement to the nursing practice," she said. "It is a new way of practice."
The basic philosophy of EBP includes training nurses in a five-step process of asking questions analytically, collecting evidence, critically appraising the evidence, including patient values in the decision-making process and, finally, evaluating the decision.
Another key component of EBP is making computer databases accessible and user-friendly to health care providers. Those databases enable nurses to search for recent research findings most suitable to their patients.
Schultz said as the medical field faces an increase in research and the Internet makes information more accessible to the general public, patients are approaching their health care providers with more knowledge and a better understanding of medical issues.
In addition to improving patient care, EBP may help alleviate some of the nationwide nursing shortage.
"It gives nurses a voice," Schultz said. "It makes them so much more excited about being nurses."
Christi Brito, a clinical educator and registered nurse at Yuma Regional Medical Center, said she has seen EBP improve nurse retention since it was implemented at the hospital three years ago.
"If you work in a place where you feel you can give the patient the care they deserve to have, you're going to stay in that place," she said.
Along with that initiative, CAEP is also holding a five-day mentorship program in December and currently infusing EBP teachings into the curriculum.
"It's definitely a good thing," said Margaretha Bell, a junior pre-nursing major. "Anytime you have more information to make a decision for your own health or the health care of a patient, only good can come from that."
Reach the reporter at ann.censky@asu.edu.
