Comparing evidence-based practice of nurses and physiotherapists

Evidence-based practice has become an ubiquitous concept within nursing. However, there is little comparative data of nursing with other professions on attitudes to evidence-based practice. This article reports on a survey of nurses’ and physiotherapists’ sources of knowledge and perceived barriers to evidence-based practice within a large teaching hospital. A total of 324 questionnaires were sent to nurses and physiotherapists. The results showed that both physiotherapists and nurses accessed a wide variety of sources of knowledge. However, nurses were more likely to use policy and procedure manuals and discussions with medical staff than physiotherapists. Both professions have problems with overcoming the barrier of time. Nurses were more likely than physiotherapists to rate themselves as having poor evidence based practice skills.