Background: In 2006, our urban academic healthcare system created a hospital Evidence-based Practice Centre (EPC) to support the local delivery of high-quality, safe and high-value patient care. The hospital EPC provides rapid systematic reviews of the scientific literature to guide local policy and practice. In 2014, we described the general evidence synthesis activities of our hospital EPC. Here, we specifically focus on the hospital EPC’s work to inform nursing policy and practice.

Objectives: Describe the evidence-synthesis activities of a hospital EPC related to nursing policy and practice.

Methods: Descriptive analysis of the hospital EPC database of rapid reviews (July 2006-June 2016).

Results: 308 reports were completed since the founding of the hospital EPC. Of these, 19% (59/308) address nursing topics and 57 nurses have been report co-authors. The majority of nursing reports (n=39) address process of care issues (e.g. strategies to reduce violence in the emergency department). Device effectiveness is the next most frequent topic (n=10; e.g. disinfecting caps for central lines), followed by policy issues (n=6; e.g. critical incident debriefing programmes to reduce nurse stress), diagnostic tests (n=3; e.g., postpartum mood-disorder screening), and drugs (n=1; locking solutions for central venous catheters). The proportion of reports relevant to nursing increased from 6% (2/35) in the centre’s first two fiscal years (2007-2008) to 31% (18/59) in the two most recent fiscal years (2015-2016). Of the 59 nursing reports, 4 reports (7%) include meta-analyses conducted by the hospital EPC staff, and 14 reports (24%) contain an evaluation of the quality of the evidence using GRADE. Reports were disseminated in a variety of ways beyond direct dissemination and presentation to requestors and posting on the centre website. For example, 5 reports (8%) informed computerised clinical decision-support interventions.

Conclusion: A dedicated hospital EPC in partnership with nursing can promote a culture of EBP by serving as a resource for nurses developing and implementing EBP and working toward the ultimate goal of improved patient outcomes.