Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses

A Glimpse of the Past

Before 1900

Florence Nightingale is considered by most to be the first nurse researcher.

One could say that, as an innovator, she was the first nurse to create an EBP.

Through the systematic collection and analysis of data, she identified factors

that contributed to the high morbidity and mortality rates of British soldiers

during the Crimean War (1853–1856). Health reforms based on her evidence

significantly reduced these rates. Her observations during the war led her to

theorize that environmental factors were critical influences on the health of

individuals. In 1859, she disseminated her ideas in Notes on Nursing: What It

Is, and What It Is Not (1859/1946), which continues to be in print today. Even

though Nightingale was an innovator in nursing research, 40 years passed before

nursing research reemerged as relevant to nursing practice.

1900–1929

During the first quarter of the 20th century, the focus of nursing research was

closely aligned with the social and political climate. Women were empowered

by the suffragette movement; thus their interest in higher education increased.

Nursing education became the focus of nursing research. The work of nursing

leaders such as Lavinia Dock, Mary Adelaide Nutting, Isabel Hampton Robb,

and Lillian Wald was instrumental in reforming nursing education. Similarly,

the Goldmark Report (1923) identified many inadequacies in nursing educa-

tion and recommended that advanced educational preparation for nurses was

Research

Dissemination

Application

Theory

Social &

political

factors

FIGURE 1-4 Cycle of Scientific Development

24 CHAPTER 1 What Is Evidence-Based Practice?