Changes in Knowledge, Skills, and Confidence in Fieldwork Educators After an Evidence-Based Practice Short Course

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Alison M. Nichols, OTR, OTD

Abstract

Background: It is critical that fieldwork educators demonstrate effective use of evidence for clinical decision making so that occupational therapy (OT) students learn to apply concepts from the classroom to everyday practice.

Method: OT fieldwork educators completed a 3-hour short course designed to provide instruction on the first three steps of the evidence-based practice (EBP) process: developing a clinical question, searching the literature, and assessing the evidence. The participants completed a pretest on site and posttest 3 weeks after the course to assess their knowledge, skills, and confidence when using EBP. The Adapted Fresno Test was used to measure knowledge and skills, and the Evidence-Based Practice Confidence Scale measured confidence.

Results: Fourteen OT practitioners completed the short course and pretest; nine returned the posttest, and six answered all of the questions. These six participants improved their knowledge and skills (3.75%) and their confidence (17.99%) from pretest to posttest.

Conclusion: Fieldwork educators showed improvements in their knowledge, skills, and confidence when using EBP after a 3-hour introductory course. This could lead to improved modeling of appropriate EBP behaviors for OT students, promoting the translation of knowledge from classroom to clinic.

Recommended Citation

Nichols, A. (2017). Changes in Knowledge, Skills, and Confidence in Fieldwork Educators After an Evidence-Based Practice Short Course. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1204