The Journal of perinatal & neonatal nursing
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J Perinat Neonatal Nurs · Jan 2010
Translating the evidence-based NICU COPE program for parents of premature infants into clinical practice: impact on nurses' evidence-based practice and lessons learned.
Many interventions that have been supported as efficacious through research never make it to clinical practice to improve care and patient outcomes. Therefore, the purposes of this dissemination-implementation study were to determine (a) the impact of translating the evidence-based Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE) program for parents of premature infants into clinical practice on nurses' EBP (evidence-based practice) beliefs and implementation; (b) the best strategy for disseminating COPE into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), including evaluating the use of a COPE EBP mentor; and (c) barriers and facilitators to successful implementation of the COPE program. ⋯ Nurses in the 2 pods in which COPE was being implemented reported higher EBP beliefs and greater EBP implementation than did nurses in the non-COPE pods. The EBP mentor was instrumental in routine delivery of COPE to the parents. Strategies to accelerate the translation of efficacious interventions into clinical practice and to create cultures to support evidence-based care in healthcare systems are urgently needed.