Grant: IPPH Travel Awards - CPHA Annual Conference

Evidence-informed decision-making is important for public health nurses because it has potential to improve outcomes for the clients and communities in which they work. Because of its importance, there are many professional expectations for nurses to engage in evidence-informed decision-making in their clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to develop and test a new self-report tool among public health nurses to measure their competence in evidence-informed decision-making. The process used to develop the tool included a review of related literature and engaging international content experts and front line nurses to ensure content of the tool was relevant, and that it was easy to understand and use in daily practice. The tool is also being piloted with a larger group of nurses across different Ontario health units to assess its validity, reliability, and acceptability. The final tool can be used directly in practice to support front line nurses and administrators in assessing the status of evidence-informed decision-making competence to support professional development planning at the individual nurse or organizational level.