From data to clinical impact: Turning evidence into action
Authors: Jacopo Fiorini,b Valerio Della Bella, a,b Valentina Vanzi,c Alessandro Stievano,b Gennaro Rocco,b Maurizio Zega,b and Gabriele Caggianelli,b,d
- a. Department of Nursing Professions, University Hospital of Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- b. JBI Italy Evidence-based Practice and Health Research Center, Rome, Italy
- c. Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
- d. Department of Healthcare Professions, Azienda Ospedaliera Complesso Ospedaliero San Giovanni Addolorata, Rome, Italy
Working in healthcare, you see lives change daily – new diagnoses, shifts in behaviour and emotions. Being a nurse provides a unique opportunity to make a meaningful difference. However, how do we know our choices are correct? That is where Evidence-Based Healthcare (EBHC) comes in. It combines what we know clinically, what patients care about and the best available research to inform choices (Sackett et al., 1996). At the same time, EBHC recognises that research evidence is only one way of knowing; decisions should also consider patient preferences, community values, clinical expertise and the specific context, integrating these perspectives to guide the best possible care.
As nursing researchers and ex-clinical nurses, we are trying to get better at understanding what we do and sharing what we learn. Research nurses do not just write papers and concentrate on words; instead, we try to make evidence visible, accessible and useful.
Why share scientific evidence?
‘Why should we write and share scientific evidence?’ is a straightforward yet impactful question that a research nurse should pose right away. ‘I have done the work and my team knows the results; isn't that enough?’ is an alluring thought. Not really, is the answer. Evidence that is locked away in our minds or kept in a manuscript cannot benefit patients or advance practice.
We discovered that publishing research is a responsibility as well as an academic endeavour. We provide other professionals with useful tools each time we convert research findings into easily understood knowledge. That is crucial in EBHC: evidence must pass from the researcher's desk to the patient choosing a course of treatment; the policymaker creating guidelines, protocols, procedures; and the nurse at the patient's bedside.
The bigger picture: The PhD pipeline in crisis
While discussing the value of publishing, it is impossible to ignore the backbone of evidence generation: researchers themselves. Here lies a growing concern. A recent paper by McKenna and Thompson (2025) asked a provocative question: ‘Is the PhD in nursing in terminal decline?’ Their analysis suggests that the answer might be leaning towards yes—unless urgent action is taken. Around the world, fewer nurses are enrolling in PhD programs. The reasons are complex:
- Financial strain: Many nurses are unable to quit lucrative clinical positions in favour of meagre PhD stipends.
- Limited career opportunities: Clinical roles hardly ever require (or compensate for) a PhD, and academic positions are becoming scarcer.
- Social inequities: Women with young families, caregivers and nurses from underprivileged backgrounds encounter additional challenges.
- Toxic academic environments: Some students leave because of inadequate supervision, bullying and exclusion.
- Competition from other degrees: For instance, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) is expanding more quickly in the United States than the PhD, taking up faculty and student time.
Why should this matter to someone interested in EBHC? It is because there are fewer people qualified to conduct rigorous research and fewer PhD nurses. If the pipeline dries up, the quality and quantity of nursing evidence will suffer—and so will patient care. McKenna and Thompson also suggested ways to improve research culture, reframe nursing as a scientific field as well as a clinical one, recruit prospective nurse researchers earlier in their careers and provide better funding and working conditions (including hiring PhD students as employees).
Turning data into evidence: The anatomy of research and publication
Research is only the beginning of creating evidence; its actual worth becomes apparent when we can share, discuss and collaborate to turn it into a lucid and exacting scientific paper. To help professionals move from the initial idea to a manuscript ready for the scientific community, the JBI Italy Evidence-based Practice and Health Research Centre of the Board of Nursing in Rome will host a special training day on October 20, in conjunction with the global celebration of World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day. The training will show how to collaborate in the production and reporting of research.
Writing a paper might seem like climbing Mount Everest, but the process becomes more manageable when it is divided into clear steps. As with any climb, however, the journey starts with the first step. In scientific writing, that first step is often the abstract: a concise structure that summarises the key elements of the research. For this reason, training initiatives should also focus on the abstract, helping researchers to craft a text that is both rigorous and accessible. A well-structured abstract not only reflects the EBHC logic in condensed form—background, methods, results and conclusions—but also determines whether clinicians, reviewers and editors will engage with the full article. Paying attention to this step ensures that the evidence produced can be communicated effectively and reach the audience it is intended to inform.
However, one of the main difficulties lies in choosing which mountain to climb: whether to attempt Everest, K2, or a less demanding peak. In the same way, researchers face the challenge of selecting the most appropriate journal for their work. Training initiatives should therefore also focus on this decision, since the best option for EBHC often requires striking a balance between accessibility and credibility.
Finally, as the film ‘Into the Wild’ reminds us, happiness is real only when shared. In EBCH, knowledge is real only when shared and clinically implemented. This includes not only clear abstracts and appropriate journals, but also creative dissemination beyond formal events—reaching students, young professionals and the wider public through social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, or via video content on YouTube. Social media offers a unique opportunity for collaborative learning, where researchers, clinicians, students and patients can discuss, interpret and even collaborate on a possible research project.
Building quality evidence with rigour and collaboration
More important than complexity is clarity. Confusing reporting can be worse than none at all in the healthcare setting. Patients may suffer because of misunderstandings brought on by poor communication or poor quality of reporting. The journey rarely ends with the submission of an article. More frequently, it marks the start of a fresh cycle of edits, criticism and occasionally rejection. Even the best papers are rejected.
Persistence is key. Criticism is not a sign of rejection but of cooperation. The purpose of peer review is to improve research and in EBHC, where human lives are at stake, this process goes beyond ‘academic gatekeeping.’ It protects quality. To address the PhD crisis, the same fortitude is required. Just as authors must face rejection, so too must universities, governments and professional associations continue to invest and support nurse researchers in spite of limited funding.
Conclusion
We cannot merely produce research if we genuinely want evidence-based healthcare decisions. We must make that evidence clear, intelligible and useful. This entails writing effectively, publishing sensibly and always considering the final user. Because in the end, the real measure of success is not the journal your work appears in—it is the difference your work makes in someone’s life.
Key take-home messages
- 1. Producing evidence and disseminating it are both equally crucial. The objective of EBHC is not obly to generate new knowledge, but also to activate further research through scientific dissemination and to ensure its application in clinical practice
- 2. Make a thoughtful decision about your publishing outlet. Consider who should view your work and how they will do so.
- 3. Welcome criticism and embrace perseverance. Rejection happens. Don’t quit, but learn from it.
References
Hines, S., Ramsbotham, J., & Coyer, F. (2022). Registered Nurses' experiences of reading and using research for work and education: A qualitative research study. BMC Nursing, 21(1), 114.
McKenna, H. P., & Thompson, D. R. (2025). Is the PhD in nursing in terminal decline?. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 105152.
Porritt, K., McArthur, A., Lockwood, C., & Munn, Z. (2023). JBI's approach to evidence implementation: A 7-phase process model to support and guide getting evidence into practice. JBI Evidence Implementation, 21(1), 3-13.
Rohan, A., & Fullerton, J. (2020). Developing advanced practice nurse writing competencies as a corequisite for evidence-based practice. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 32(10), 682-688.
Sackett, D. L., Rosenberg, W. M. C., Gray, J. A. M., Haynes, R. B., & Richardson, W. S. (1996). Evidence based medicine: What it is and what it isn’t. BMJ, 312(7023), 71–72.
Links to additional resources
https://jbi.global
https://jbi.global/collaboration/jbi-italy-evidence-based-practice-and-health-research-center
To link to this article - DOI: https://doi.org/10.70253/GJIY1097
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this World EBHC Day Blog, as well as any errors or omissions, are the sole responsibility of the author and do not represent the views of the World EBHC Day Steering Committee, Official Partners or Sponsors; nor does it imply endorsement by the aforementioned parties.
