Nurses experiences of adopting evidence-based practice in Saudi healthcare: organizational, educational, and cultural influences from qualitative focus groups

Abstract Background Evidence-based practice (EBP) is expected in nursing, and its implementation is still limited by workload, evidence access, and organizational culture. In Saudi settings, nurses report mixed readiness for EBP and recurring constraints related to resources, autonomy, and change processes in daily care. This exploratory study aimed to examine the perspectives of postgraduate nursing students (Master’s and doctoral level) on barriers and facilitators to EBP in the Saudi healthcare context, using the Johns Hopkins Practice Evidence Translation (PET) model as the analytic framework. Methods A framework-guided thematic analysis of recorded focus group transcripts used deductive coding to PET domains (Practice, Evidence, Translation) with dual coding across two purposively sampled focus groups: Master’s-level nursing students (FG1; n = 5) and doctoral-level nursing students (FG2; n = 5), yielding N = 10 participants. Results In Practice participants framed EBP as “not personal preference,” integrating research evidence, clinical experience, and patient preferences, and described adapting tools and protocols locally. Key practice barriers include bedside resistance when EBP steps were viewed as extra work and hierarchical norms that constrained nursing autonomy. In Evidence, participants reported variable EBP education and research literacy and inconsistent organizational access to journals and databases. In Translation, facilitators included leadership support and capacity-building, while barriers included multi-level resistance and slow approval processes. Conclusion PET mapping highlights priorities to protect time for EBP work, build research skills, ensure reliable evidence access, and streamline translation pathways.