Abstract
BACKGROUND: Evidence-Based Healthcare is essential for enhancing the quality of care and improving patient outcomes in contemporary healthcare. As the largest professional group in the healthcare sector, nurses are critical in all phases of the EBHC process. The purpose of the study was to investigate clinical nurses' evidence-based healthcare competence and explore the associated factors. METHODS: From July to October 2023, a cross-sectional study was conducted with 531 clinical nurses recruited from hospitals in Guangdong Province, China, utilizing convenience sampling. All the collected data were analyzed descriptively, and independent samples t-test, adjusted t-test, one-way ANOVA, Welch ANOVA, Pearson's correlation test, and multiple linear regression were employed to explore the associated factors. RESULTS: In total, 531 valid questionnaires were collected. The average item score of evidence-based healthcare competence among these nurses was (2.92 ± 0.78) points. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that English literature reading ability, frequency of literature reading, workload, the number of types of evidence-based training programs they participated in, and whether they had applied for patents influenced the evidence-based healthcare competence of clinical nurses. CONCLUSION: Clinical nurses exhibit varying levels of evidence-based healthcare competence, with strengths in evidence transfer and implementation but room for improvement in evidence generation and synthesis. The identified factors provide valuable insights for developing targeted interventions. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.