Using evidence-based practice for managing clinical outcomes in advanced practice nursing

Preparation of advanced practice nurses to assume leadership positions for clinical decision making requires that traditional ways of solving clinical problems be augmented with information from relevant, research-derived evi dence. In this article, the authors describe how one graduate program prepa res advanced practice nurses to use the best scientific evidence with clini cal expertise to influence patient outcomes. The assignments that students complete in their program provide examples of evidence-based practice that apply quality improvement principles and science-based nursing intervention s to create best practices.