Uddannelsesreformen som afsæt for at gentænke undervisning i evidensbaseret praksis på sygeplejerskeuddannelsen

Indledning
I marts 2025 indgik regeringen og aftalepartierne en politisk aftale om en reform af de professions- og erhvervsrettede videregående uddannelser. Reformen beskrives som en historisk investering i kvalitet og praksisnærhed, men rummer samtidig udsigten til en mulig forkortelse af sygeplejerskeuddannelsen (1).

Det rejser spørgsmålet:
Hvordan kan praksistilknytningen styrkes uden at svække de akademiske kompetencer, der gør sygeplejersker i stand til at stille kritiske spørgsmål, udfordre vaner og omsætte ny viden til bedre pleje og behandling?

Evidensbaseret praksis
Hvis reformen mindsker vægten på undervisning i for eksempel forskningsmetode, bliver det vigtigt at drøfte hvordan kompetencer i evidensbaseret praksis (EBP) kan forankres både i teori og klinik.

Internationale anbefalinger fra Sicily statements beskriver centrale elementer i EBP-processen og i undervisning i EBP (2,3). Sicily statements fremhæver EBP som en integration af den bedste tilgængelige evidens, klinisk ekspertise og borgeres/patienters præferencer og at EBP indebærer fem elementer: at stille kliniske spørgsmål, søge og vurdere evidens, integrere den i beslutninger og evaluere resultater (2).

Vores aktuelle studier peger på, at et tæt samarbejde med klinikken kan styrke de studerendes EBP-færdigheder og gøre det lettere at omsætte teori til praksis (4,5).

Invitation til debat om evidensbaseret praksis
Praksisnærhed og akademiske kompetencer er i vores optik gensidigt forstærkende, hvis sygeplejersker skal kunne omsætte forskningsbaseret viden til sikker og effektiv patientpleje. Med afsæt i både de internationale Sicily statements – der i to årtier har sat retningen for undervisning og evaluering af EBP – og vores egne danske studier inviterer vi til debat om, hvordan EBP kan fungere som en ramme for at realisere reformens intentioner og styrke praksisnærhed uden at svække de akademiske kompetencer.

English abstract

The education reform as a springboard for rethinking teaching in evidence-based practice in nurse education

Introduction
In March 2025, the government and coalition parties entered into a political agreement on a reform of professional and vocational higher education programmes. The reform is presented as a historic investment in quality and practice orientation, but at the same time it opens up the possibility of shortening the nursing education programme.
This raises the question:
How can the link to clinical practice be strengthened without weakening the academic competencies that enable nurses to ask critical questions, challenge routines, and translate new knowledge into improved care and treatment?
Evidence-based practice
If the reform reduces the emphasis on teaching in, for example, research methods, it becomes important to discuss how competencies in evidence-based practice (EBP) can be anchored in both theoretical teaching and clinical practice. International recommendations from the Sicily statements describe key elements in the EBP process and in teaching EBP. The Sicily statements emphasise EBP as an integration of the best available evidence, clinical expertise, and citizen/patient preferences, and describe EBP as comprising five elements: formulating clinical questions, searching for and appraising evidence, integrating it into decisions, and evaluating outcomes.
Our current studies indicate that close collaboration with clinical practice can strengthen students’ EBP skills and make it easier to translate theory into practice.

Invitation to debate on evidence-based practice
In our view, practice orientation and academic competencies are mutually reinforcing if nurses are to translate research-based knowledge into safe and effective patient care. Building on the international Sicily statements – which for two decades have set the direction for teaching and evaluating EBP – and on our own Danish studies, we invite debate on how EBP can function as a framework for realising the intentions of the reform and strengthening practice orientation without weakening academic competencies.

Keywords: Evidence-based practice, nurse education, education reform, research methods, Sicily statements, theory–practice integration.