section_path: Nursing as a science/Evidence-based practice
section_name: Evidence-based practice
paragraph_text: Evidence-based practice
  
  During the 1980s there was an increased focus on research utilization (RU). Nursing research took an interest in clinical issues and US nursing schools began teaching research methods to facilitate interpretation and integration of scientific findings in routine practice. Several RU initiatives were active during the late 20th century, but the RU movement was superseded by evidence-based practice in the 1990s. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is about using research, but unlike RU it allows for the integration of research findings with clinical expertise and patient preferences. The EBP movement had originated in the field of medicine with Archie Cochrane publishing Effectiveness and Efficiency in 1972, leading up to the founding of the Cochrane Collaboration in 1993. The emerging area of evidence-based medicine also applies to nursing. Common barriers to the study and integration of research findings into clinical decision making include: a lack of opportunity, inexperience, and the rapid pace of evidence accumulation.