Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Apr 17;9(4):e15549.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15549. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Evidence-based information-seeking behaviors of nursing students: Concurrent think aloud technique

Modi Al-Moteri  1
Affiliations

Evidence-based information-seeking behaviors of nursing students: Concurrent think aloud technique

Modi Al-Moteri. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Background: With the expansion of scientific information, and the beginning of evidence-based practice (EBP), embracing "evidence-based information-seeking behaviors" is essential to provide effective up-to-date nursing care. To better support students' evidence-based information-seeking behaviors, this study explores how nursing students actually search and identify evidence-based information.

Methods: A concurrent think aloud technique was employed in which 12 nursing students were asked to verbalize their thoughts whilst using search engines to find EBP to inform their practice.

Results: In general, searching literature per se is complex and many different searching activities are employed, including triggering, recalling, scanning, linking, accessing, retrieving, relating, extracting, evaluating and referencing. The search behavior may involve some iteration of the cyclical activities of scanning, linking and accessing. It is believed that background (recalling pre-existing knowledge), assessing relevancy, evaluating and referencing are pertinent to evidence-based practice information-seeking behavior. In view of this, the study proposes a new model of evidence-based information-seeking behaviors.

Conclusion: This study presents an evidence-based information-seeking behavior model based on a number of identified searching features. Results may have important practical implications for nursing educators.

Keywords: Behavior; Cognition; Ellis-model; Information; Nursing; Seeking; Students.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author has no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Evidence-based information-seeking behaviors conceptual model.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cui C., Li Y., Geng D., Zhang H., Jin C. The effectiveness of evidence-based nursing on development of nursing students' critical thinking: a meta-analysis. Nurse Educ. Today. 2018;65:46–53. - PubMed
    1. Ashktorab T., Pashaeypoor S., Rassouli M., Alavi-Majd H. Nursing students' competencies in evidence-based practice and its related factors. Nurs. Midwifery Stud. 2015;4(4) - PMC - PubMed
    1. Macnee C.L., McCabe S. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008. Understanding Nursing Research: Using Research in Evidence-Based Practice.
    1. Lowman G.H., Harms P.D. Addressing the nurse workforce crisis: a call for greater integration of the organizational behavior, human resource management and nursing literatures. J. Manag. Psychol. 2022;37(3):294–303.
    1. Youssef N.F., Alshraifeen A., Alnuaimi K., Upton P. Egyptian and Jordanian nurse educators' perception of barriers preventing the implementation of evidence-based practice: a cross-sectional study. Nurse Educ. Today. 2018;64:33–41. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources