RNOtherJournal of advanced nursing2025

Advancing evidence-based practice through the Knowledge Translation Challenge: Nurses' important roles in research, implementation science and practice change.

Amanda Chisholm, Angela Russolillo, Michelle Carter and 4 others

PMID 39087775

WHAT IT FOUND

Across the KT Challenge, 15 of 30 teams showed practice uptake; 5 more had anecdotal evidence.

In a clozapine case study, a multi-component toolkit was associated with preprinted order use in 96% and increased monitoring adherence in 298 admissions.

Key findings

01Fifteen of 30 teams across five cohorts demonstrated uptake of their intended practice change, and five more collected anecdotal uptake information, giving a reported success rate of 66%.

02In the clozapine case study, 298 admissions were reviewed and pre-implementation care did not meet guidelines for documentation of patient status (62%), medication adherence (50%), baseline blood work/diagnostics (50%), and C-reactive protein/troponin (<25%).

03After the six core components of the clozapine toolkit (guideline, preprinted orders, monitoring flowsheet, online course, medication discharge summary and patient handout) were implemented, preprinted order use was 96%, baseline orders were above 50%, and monitoring adherence significantly increased for troponin (73.5%), CRP (73%) and CBC with differential (75%).

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs

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What it does not show

This is a program description and a single case study, not a controlled trial, so it cannot show that the toolkit alone caused the changes. The clozapine toolkit was delivered with several components at once, including guideline, preprinted orders, monitoring flowsheet, online course, medication discharge summary and patient handout, plus staff education, in-person support, chart audits and pharmacy workflow changes; the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The chart review analysed 298 admissions at one acute mental health unit, so it may not apply to other settings or patient groups. The paper reports documentation and monitoring adherence, not patient clinical outcomes such as relapse, side effects or mortality. Across the wider program, 15 of 30 teams demonstrated uptake, five more had anecdotal uptake, seven were still active, three withdrew and some teams were still within term, so the program result is incomplete.

Declared interests

The program was supported by Providence Health Care Professional Practice Office, St Paul's Foundation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, the Robert H. N. Ho Enhancing Patient Care Fund supported by the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, and BC Cancer. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

The easy way to misread this

Do not read the 96% preprinted order use or 66% success rate as proof that the toolkit improves patient health outcomes. The paper reports implementation and documentation measures from a single before-after project and program reports, with no control group and no patient clinical outcomes.

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