Nursing faculties, knowledge and awareness of systematic reviews and Cochrane

Article type
Authors
Balusamy P1, Prakash D2, Seema SK1, Balusamy P1
1Navodaya College of Nursing, Raichur, Karnataka, India
2Navodaya College of Physiotheraphy, Raichur, Karnataka, India
Abstract
Background:
Much confidence has been placed in the nursing profession's potential to have a positive impact on the health care system. Evidence-based practice is regarded as a core competence to improve health care quality. Good systematic reviewing is the top most strategy in the hierarchy of levels of evidence and the core focus of Cochrane is the systematic review. Descriptive study was done to describe nursing faculties’ knowledge of systematic reviews and awareness of Cochrane.

Objectives:
To assess nursing faculties’ knowledge of systematic reviews and awareness of Cochrane.

Methods:
The study was conducted among 100 nursing faculties working in selected nursing colleges in selected universities of health sciences in south India. A convenient sampling technique was used to collect the data. The self-administered questionnaire consisted of a demographic profile, questions to determine knowledge about systematic reviews, and an awareness question about Cochrane.

Results:
The study results showed that nearly half of the nursing faculties had low knowledge (56%) about systematic reviews, however, more than half of the nursing faculties (65.7%) had heard about Cochrane, 66.7% knew of The Cochrane Library, but only 48% had heard about the Cochrane Nursing Care Field. Only 18% had used the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and 13% knew that Cochrane in India is located in Vellore. A statistical relationship was found between the level of knowledge and academic qualification among nursing faculties.

Conclusions:
Nursing faculty must involve themselves in educational and research activities to make the students aware about the reliable data base for evidence based practice .The low awareness of systematic review among Nursing Faculties creates a need for educational interventions about systematic review for the benefit of effective nursing care services.