Barriers to Evidence-Based Practice Implementation in Nursing

Introduction to EBP Stakeholder Barriers

The use and promotion of evidence-based healthcare is faced with resistance. Nurses across the globe have continually faced obstacles in their efforts to universally embrace this approach. The key players in the implementation of evidence-based practice (EBP) include hospital staff at all levels. There are two major barriers that continue to impede the transition to this new healthcare practice. Cultural barriers alone, or accompanied by institutional red tape, and poor knowledge of EBP were identified as the main stumbling blocks (Tacia, Biskupski, Pheley & Lehto, 2015). The willingness of staff to embrace care tasks and roles intended for intervention determines the level and magnitude of these barriers. If staff are reluctant to accept such roles and duties, it undermines the implementation of intervention measures (Hanson et al., 2017).

Institutional and Cultural Barriers

Cultural issues within institutions and a lack of motivation to foster change across hospitals were noted by members of multiple stakeholder groups as major stumbling blocks. One nurse practitioner observed that institutional culture had made it the norm to be satisfied with the prevailing state of affairs rather than to demand better or best practice. In discussions among nurses, it emerged that there is a tendency to fall back on familiar routines rather than seek approaches grounded in evidence (Tacia et al., 2015).