An annual conference is held in April with nationally known speakers and clinical experts. The conference has been offered annually for over a decade and offers cutting edge information and networking opportunities. Content is intended for nurses interested in improving patient outcomes and maintaining costs associated with quality nursing care by using evidence-based practice.

The conference offers an opportunity for presenting current Evidence-Based Practice topics in poster or paper format. Networking with clinical experts is encouraged. The afternoon pre-conference will offer in-depth discussion and mentoring on specific aspects of the evidence-based practice process and clinical examples. Multiple tracks will be offered to address various levels of evidence-based practice, from basic to advanced.

April 24 and 25, 2008
Reflections on the Past, Directions for the Future:  Implications for Research and Clinical Practice
15th National Evidence-Based Practice Conference

Marita Titler, PhD, RN, FAAN; Senior Assistant Director, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics; Director Nursing Research, Quality and Outcomes Management from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, set the stage of the Pre-Conference by presenting “Transforming the Health Care System:  Can EBP Help?”  Participants then moved to their choice of break-out session, either:  1) A basic track “Staff Nurses Leading Evidence-Based Practice Changes” where UIHC staff nurses described strategies used to implement and facilitate practice changes; 2) “Speaking the Language of Cost” which identified cost/benefit issues related to EBP with examples; or 3) “Nourishing an Evidence-Based Practice Culture” where Kay Takes, MA, RN, CNAA discussed essential components for an organizational EBP Program, and Kathleen Buckwalter, PhD, RN, FAAN described skills required of leaders for EBP.  This year's conference celebrated contributions to the advancement of professional nursing practice through the use of evidence, translation science, and clinical research.  It also addressed future directions, benefits, and challenges in evidence-based health care practices.  The keynote address was “Back to the Future:  Contemporary Issues and Future Developments in Evidence-Based Practice” by   Joanne Rycroft Malone, PhD, MSc BSc(Hons), RN, Reader in Health Services Research, Bangor University; Editor, Worldview on Evidence-Based Nursing.

An Expert Panel discussed “Looking Back and Looking Forward:  Perspectives on the Healthcare Agenda for EBP”, with Marita Titler, PhD, RN, FAAN, panel facilitator; Margaret Reynolds, PhD, RN, FAAN, “What We Learned from the CURN Project: Implications for EBP Today; Kathleen Buckwalter, PhD, RN, FAAN, “The UIHC Perspective”; and Laura Cullen, MA, RN, “Evolution in Resources”.  Susan Adams, PhD, RN provided a summary motivational presentation for EBP.

Plenary sessions included 16 presentations.   They were grouped under the categories of Critical Care, Frameworks for Practice, Pediatric and Primary Care, Safety, Geriatric Resource Nurse Program, and a special session that featured Joanne Rycroft-Malone presenting on “Realistic Inquiry” and M. Lindell Joseph, PhD, RN on “Organizational Culture and Climate:  Antecedents for the Generation, Implementation and Sustainability of Innovations.”  There were also 39 exceptional EBP and research posters presented.

The People’s Choice Award was won by Terry Alsbury, RN, MSN, BC; from Memorial Hospital, Belleville, IL; “Were Gold Standard Criteria Present but Unrecognized Eight Hours Prior to Cardiopulmonary Arrest?”

The Research Into Practice Award was won by Wendy Cook, RN, MSN, CCNS, CCRN; from Naval Hospital Bremerton, Bremerton, WA; “Journal Club as a Forum to Mentor Junior Nurses and Promote Interest in EBP”.

The winner of the Conduct of Research Award was Barbara Giambra, RN, MS, CNP, from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH; “Aspiration Suspicion Index: Exploration of the Relationships Between Parental History and Aspiration”.

April 19th & 20th, 2007
Implementation Strategies: Making it Happen
14th National Evidence-Based Practice Conference

This year's conference featured Maureen Dobbins, RN, PhD; Associate Professor, McMaster University, School of Nursing, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Maureen provided an excellent keynote presentation on Understanding Knowledge Transfer in Healthcare.

Marita Titler, PhD, RN, FAAN; Senior Assistant Director, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics; Director Nursing Research, Quality and Outcomes Management from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, set the stage by presenting Illusions in EBP and Translation Science, for a panel of experts who then discussed specific implementation strategies for EBP.

Jacqueline Vance, RN, C.CDONA/LTC; Director of Clinical Affairs for the American Medical Directors Association, Columbia, Maryland, presented the end-note presentation about Why we do What we do Despite the Evidence: Effecting Change with Clinical Practice Guidelines in Long Term Care.

Plenary sessions included 18 presentations. A few examples of the notable topics for presentation included: Implementation Strategies for CMS Measures, Mary Kay Brooks, RN, MSN; Putting Evidence into Practice: Disseminating Knowledge of Evidence-Based Intervention for Sleep/Wake Disturbances in Adults with Cancer, Ann Berger, PhD, RN, AOCN, FAAN; Journey to Person-Centered Dementia Care, Ben Inventor, MSN, CNP. There were also 51 exceptional EBP and research posters presented.

This year's conference had two winners for the Conduct of Research Poster Award. They were Shirley Hartwig, RN, MSN for "Evidence Based Practice: Adult Acute Simple Laceration Cleaning" and Vicki Kraus, PhD, ARNP, CDE for "Targeting Blood Glucose Control with IV insulin". The winner of the Conduct of Research Award was Melissa Rader, RN, BC for "Promoting Perinatal Patient Safety: Increasing Nursing Knowledge through Education of Oxytocin Administration for Induction and Augmentation of Labor."

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