Evidence-informed practice

Evidence-informed practice learning and assessment framework for clinicians working with students on placement.

Evidence-informed practice means applying good quality evidence (Harrison & Graham, 2021) to enable ethical and well informed practice (Staempfli, 2020). 'Good quality evidence' is not limited to research and theories, but also includes public, personal, organisational, cultural and discipline specific knowledge, professional expertise and lived experience. This knowledge and experience are thoughtfully applied against the backdrop of the specific local context (Markauskaite & Goodyear, 2017; Staempfli, 2020).

Practicing in an evidence-informed way is a skill that healthcare students need to learn, and clinical placement provides the ideal opportunity to hone these skills (Murphy et al., 2019). Clinical supervisors play a critical role in the success of student placements and the quality of student learning experiences (Battye et al., 2020; Levett-Jones et al., 2009). Clinical supervisors are ideally suited to help students develop their evidence-informed practice skills. We developed this framework, using the five steps recommended in contemporary literature (Dawes et al., 2005) to support clinicians to do this.

Five step framework model

Evidence-informed practice framework model - overlapping circles of asking, acquiring, appraising, applying and analysing; with optimal health care at the centre

Asking: Encourage students to acknowledge uncertainty and ask practice-relevant questions to make evidence-informed healthcare decisions.

Example question prompts:

  • What is it you are unsure about in this situation?
  • How does this uncertainty affect your (client’s) decision-making?
  • What do you need to find out to make the best decision?

Acquiring: Provide students time and support to find relevant evidence.

Example question prompts:

  • What kind(s) of information might assist?
  • Where might you find that information?
  • Who might be able to help?

Appraising: Assist students to appraise the evidence for both relevance and trustworthiness.

Example question prompts:

  • How relevant is the information that you have acquired?
  • How trustworthy is the information?
  • How are you judging the relevance and trustworthiness?

Applying: Assist students to integrate all relevant information and make decisions collaboratively.

Example question prompts:

  • What situational factors, resources, and constraints need to be considered in deciding how to act on the information?
  • Whose perspectives do you need to consider when deciding how to proceed?
  • What aspects of the information need to be explained to each stakeholder?

Analysing: Encourage students to critically reflect and share their learnings

Example question prompts:

  • What have you learned because of this process?
  • What will you consider a positive outcome, and why?
  • Are there any new questions arising from this process?

EIP booklet

Initial framework and resources developed by Dr Kylie Murphy, Dr Tracey Parnell, Associate Professor Narelle Patton, Dr Kate Freire and Professor Rod Pope. Framework and resources updated by Elsie de Klerk, Three Rivers DRH, with the support of the original authors.

This project was funded by ANZAHPE and Three Rivers DRH.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

To cite this page:
Murphy, K., Parnell, T., Patton, N., Freire, K., Pope, R, de Klerk, E. (2024, July). An evidence-informed practice learning & assessment framework for clinicians working with students on placement. https://www.csu.edu.au/threerivers/health-professionals/our-teaching-resources/evidence-informed-practice

Battye, C., Sefton, C., Thomas, M., Smith, J., Springer, S., Skinner, I., Callander, E., Butler, S., Wilkins, R., Gordon, J., & Kelly, K. (2020). Independent evaluation of the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program: Final report to the Commonwealth Department of Health. https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-03/evaluation-of-the-rural-health-multidisciplinary-training-rhmt-program-final-report.pdf

Dawes, M., Summerskill, W., Glasziou, P., Cartabellotta, A., Martin, J., Hopayian, K., Porzsolt, F., Burls, A., & Osborne, J. (2005). Sicily statement on evidence-based practice. BMC medical education, 5(1), 1-1. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-5-1

Harrison, M. B., & Graham, I. D. (2021). Knowledge translation in nursing and healthcare: A roadmap to evidence-informed practice. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119123316.ch2

Levett-Jones, T., Lathlean, J., Higgins, I., & McMillan, M. (2009). Staff - student relationships and their impact on nursing students' belongingness and learning. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(2), 316-324. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04865.x

Markauskaite, L., & Goodyear, P. (2017). Epistemic fluency and professional education: Innovation, knowledgeable action and actionable knowledge. Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4369-4

Murphy, B. K., Guisard, Y., Curtin, M., Biles, J., Thomas, C., & Parnell, T. (2019). Evidence-based practice: What do undergraduate health students think it means? Focus on Health Professional Education, 20(3), 12-29. https://doi.org/10.11157/fohpe.v20i3.319

Staempfli, A. (2020). PSDP - Resources and tools: Enabling evidence-informed practice. Department for Education. https://practice-supervisors.rip.org.uk/