N urse leaders at Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC), a 550-bed community hospital, have strengthened the department's infrastructure and processes for ensuring nursing practices are based on the best available evidence, building the momentum needed to expand the integration of evidence-based research into practice. In today's era of knowledgeable healthcare consumers, evidence-based practice (EBP) has become the gold standard as consumers demand quality care that's proven to be effective and safe. Evidence-based nursing involves the integration of best known effective care with clinical competence and patients ' values. 1 Despite the recognition that evidence-based research is becoming a critical component of nursing practice, and that nurses are overwhelmingly interested in acquiring such research skills, institutional support for nurses achieving this goal is often weak or lacking. 2 A commitment to EBP begins with establishing a culture in which nurses are mentored in developing skills for defining problems and improving clinical decision making in their work environment. 3 In addition to organization-wide support, achieving an evidence-based culture calls for strong nursing leadership. 4,5 This kind of environment is efficiently structured with collaborative, influential nursing administrators and patient-care decisions are made based on the best available evidence, promoting autonomy at the unit level and translating into optimal care at the bedside.The following steps elucidate how nurse leaders at EHC have transformed the practice culture into one in which EBP flourishes and thrives.Step 1: Organizational inventory Solid structures and processes are necessary to support cultural changes. To begin the process of EBP enculturation at EHC, an assessment was conducted of the organizational infrastructure to identify and differentiate areas that required enhancement versus those that required development. An analysis to determine the availability of intellectual, operational, and financial resources was carried out. The inventory process was done to determine current resources available to support EBP, including: • library access with electronic databases for literature searches • web access to enhance literature searches • policy and procedure committee to develop and/or revise policies based on current clinical evidence • nurse researcher or research consultant to support staff • educational programs on research and EBP • release time for the conduct of research/ literature searches as needed • electronic communication system for the easy dissemination of information • shared governance model that empowers direct caregivers to question clinical practice • partnerships with schools of nursing and healthcare facilities to support the integration of research into practice. 2 Based on the inventory, it was noted that although some of the resources to sustain and support EBP were already available, most of Achieving an evidence-based culture calls for strong nursing leadership. This kind of environment is efficien...