Translating the evidence-based NICU COPE program for parents of premature infants into clinical practice: impact on nurses' evidence-based practice and lessons learned.

Background And Purpose: 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.

Subjects And Methods: The subjects for this study were 81 (45%) out of 180 nurses from a 55-bed NICU of a large children's hospital located in the Southwest region of the United States.