A JBI Centre of Excellence in Shanghai celebrates 20 years

The Fudan University Centre for Evidence-based Nursing: A JBI Centre of Excellence is hosted by the School of Nursing, Fudan University in Shanghai, China. As one of the oldest JBI Collaboration Entities and the first evidence-based nursing centre in mainland China, their mission is to promote and influence evidence-informed, clinical decision-making.

For the past 20 years, they have been enhancing the effectiveness of Chinese nurses and allied health professionals’ in evidence-based practice, developing multi-dimensional evidence-based healthcare resources, and embedding evidence into clinical practice. They are committed to introducing effective and efficient nursing practices and applying the JBI Model of Evidence-Based Healthcare (EBHC) in a Chinese context.

Professor Hu Yan, director of Fudan University Centre of Evidence-Based Nursing, strongly believes in the impact of scientific evidence on the quality of nursing care. She earned her PhD at Latrobe University, where the dean was Prof Alan Pearson, founder of JBI. Since its inception, JBI has aimed to provide the best available evidence to inform clinical decision-making at the point of care. Thanks to the positive influence of Prof Pearson in communicating JBI’s vision, Prof Yan decided to join the JBI Collaboration. She hoped that the Fudan Evidence-Based Nursing Centre could promote and influence scientific clinical decision-making, and bring in effective and efficient nursing initiatives.

We asked Prof Yan to share some of the Centre's experiences and achievements during its time in the JBI Collaboration (JBIC) over the last 20 years.

What is unique about your JBI Centre of Excellence?

Fudan EBN Centre is one of the earliest JBI Centres. We focus on evidence implementation, which is unique to our centre. Our centre has actively participated in the JBI Evidence Implementation Training Program since 2011 and has successfully completed almost 100 implementation projects. We have more than 50 evidence synthesis and evidence implementation publications in peer-reviewed journals, including JBI Evidence Synthesis and JBI Evidence Implementation. 

How does your JBI Collaborating Entity contribute to evidence-based healthcare on a local, regional and global scale? 

The Fudan Evidence-Based Nursing Centre is the 20th JBI Collaborating Centre and the first evidence-based nursing institution in mainland China. Over the past 20 years, our Centre has introduced and translated JBI evidence-based resources, and has promoted JBI evidence-based healthcare concepts and models.

Our Centre works closely with many hospitals, and this builds a network of evidence-based nursing practice. In order to advance and accelerate the implementation of evidence into clinical practice, our Centre has organised for 94 nurses from Fudan-affiliated hospitals and faculty members from the School of Nursing to participate in the JBI Evidence Implementation Training Program. Our Centre also supports core staff to participate in various short courses run by JBI, such as the JBI Comprehensive Systematic Review Training Program, JBI Scoping Review Workshop, and JBI GRADE Workshop, to cultivate evidence-based nursing talents.

I am an active participant in the JBI Textual Evidence Methodology Group and the JBI Implementation Methodology Group, which contribute to evidence-based healthcare regionally and globally. What we have done makes our Centre one the most famous evidence-based nursing institutions in China, achieving impressive growth in terms of its various academic- related initiatives, and forging partnerships at the national and international level.

After all these years, what is it about JBI that keeps you motivated to stay with and contribute to the JBIC?

I think we share a vision with JBI to advance evidence-based healthcare. We are committed to the development of evidence-based healthcare theory and methods, and actively promote evidence-based implementation. We participate in various academic activities and JBI training every year, and learn about cutting-edge frameworks and theories. 

We help clinical nurses actively promote evidence transformation with the JBI EBP Database, as well as continue to produce evidence-based healthcare frameworks and evidence-based practice outcomes applicable to China. We also participate in the JBI gLOCAL Solution Room to build a platform for academic exchange for Chinese nursing staff and promote the development of evidence-based healthcare. 

Are there any lessons learnt during your time with the JBIC that you would like to share?

First of all, JBI provides an open platform for healthcare providers. After joining the JBIC, we could use JBI's databases and evidence-based software, which greatly facilitates the evidence-based research and practice of researchers and clinical nurses. As a member of the JBIC, we can also develop evidence-based practice software and platforms that can be adapted locally to facilitate more healthcare providers.  

Secondly, the classification of methodological researchers in JBI provides us with a reference. In order to promote the development of evidence-based research methods more effectively, research method groups are divided into evidence generation, integration and translation groups etc., which can be clearer and more convenient for learners to achieve their learning goals. Over a long period of time, our Centre has achieved remarkable results by training research methods in different groups, facilitating the learning of researchers and clinical staff at all levels. 

Please tell us about the impact your JBIC Entity has had in your region.

Fudan Evidence-Based Nursing Centre has in-depth relationships with multiple clinical partners by disseminating evidence-based resources and mentoring evidence-based nursing practice. It has led or facilitated almost 100 evidence-based implementation projects. Our Centre believes that close clinical partnership is of great value in facilitating the implementation of evidence and improving the quality of care.

Beginning in 2022, our Centre started to host JBI gLOCAL Solution Rooms, which brings together evidence-based healthcare experts to discuss solutions to clinical problems through evidence, and effectively promote the implementation of evidence into clinical practice. Every year, there are nearly 10,000 participants. The event promotes the development of evidence-based nursing in China, and promotes the enthusiasm of nursing practitioners and researchers for the study and research of evidence-based nursing.

What would be the one piece of advice you would give to someone thinking of joining the JBIC?

Please apply to join as soon as possible! This is a win-win opportunity for any organisation. Every year, you can get a lot of support from JBI, and JBI also has a lot of connections with various international organisations, so you can get more international exchange opportunities. It is a more immediate and convenient communication platform with international evidence-based healthcare providers and methodologists to strengthen themselves and make more contributions to the field of evidence-based healthcare. 

JBI and the JBIC congratulate the dedicated team at Fudan University Centre for Evidence-based Nursing: A JBI Centre of Excellence for their remarkable achievements over the past 20 years. We look forward to working with you in the years to come!