Table 2 Responses to evidence-based practice belief scale by trained and untrained students (n = 241)

1. “I believe that EBP results in the best clinical care for patients”.

177 (73.4%)

127 (77.9%)

50 (64.1%)

5.160

.023

2. “I am sure that evidence-based guidelines can improve clinical care”.

174 (72.2%)

121 (74.2%)

53 (67.9%)

1.038

.308

3. “I am sure that implementing EBP will improve the care that I deliver to my patients”.

167 (69.3%)

115 (70.6%)

52 (66.7%)

.374

.541

4. “I believe that critically appraising evidence is an important step in the EBP process”.

153 (63.5%)

107 (65.6%)

46 (59.0%)

1.012

0.314

5. “I believe the care that I deliver is evidence-based”.

148 (61.4%)

102 (62.6%)

46 (59.0%)

.289

.591

6. “I am sure about how to measure the outcomes of clinical care”.

152 (63.1%)

109 (66.9%)

43 (55.1%)

3.123

.077

7. “I am sure that I can implement EBP”.

131 (54.4%)

99 (60.7%)

32 (41.0%)

8.261

.004

8. “I am clear about the steps of EBP”.

127 (52.7%)

95 (58.3%)

32 (41.0%)

6.302

.021

9.” I believe that I can search for the best evidence to answer clinical questions in a time-efficient way”.

144 (59.8%)

101 (62.0%)

43 (55.1%)

1.025

.311

10. “I believe that I can overcome barriers in implementing EBP”.

124 (51.5%)

87 (53.4%)

37 (47.4%)

.745

.388

11. “I believe that EBP takes too much time”.

125 (51.9%)

80 (49.1%)

45 (57.7%)

1.567

.211

12. “I am sure that I can access the best resources in order to implement EBP”.

121 (50.5%)

83 (50.9%)

38 (48.7%)

.102

.749

13. “I believe EBP is difficult”.

142 (58.9%)

90 (55.2%)

52 (66.7%)

2.858

.091

14. “I know how to implement EBP sufficiently enough to make practice changes”.

128 (53.5%)

93 (57.1%)

35 (44.9%)

3.144

.076

15. “I am confident about my ability to implement EBP where I work”.

129 (53.5%)

96 (58.9%)

33 (42.3%)

5.836

.016

16. “I am sure that I can implement EBP in a time-efficient way”.

138 (57.3%)

99 (60.7%)

39 (50.0%)

2.485

.115