Learning to listen: mixed-methods study of medical students' perspectives on communication training.

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is universally acknowledged as a core competency in modern nursing, requiring learners to integrate the best available research evidence, clinical expertise, and contextual judgment in decision-making [–]. The strategic imperative for EBP is clear: when clinical decisions are informed by professional expertise, respect for patient values, and high-quality evidence, patient outcomes and healthcare quality improve, whereas failures in this domain remain potent predictors of adverse events and increased mortality [, ]. Consequently, international regulatory bodies, including the European Federation of Nurses Associations (EFN), have mandated the integration of EBP as a central competence within undergraduate nursing curricula []. Despite this professional mandate, a persistent discrepancy, often termed the ‘theory-practice gap’, remains documented between students’ positive attitudes towards EBP and their actual ability to enact its principles in clinical settings [, ]. Developing EBP competence poses substantial educational challenges, primarily because EBP requires moving beyond mere declarative knowledge toward active engagement, developing the ability to apply, justify, and negotiate evidence-informed decisions in complex and uncertain clinical contexts [, ]. Learners frequently exhibit limited procedural knowledge, difficulties in appraising and applying evidence, and uncertainty in translating theoretical models into clinical reasoning [, , ]. In the European context, these challenges are further compounded by fragmentation of curricular approaches to EBP, which is frequently embedded within other courses and delivered through instructional formats that may inadequately support the development of applied competence [, –].