Abstract
Preparation of advanced practice nurses to assume leadership positions for clinical decision making requires that traditional ways of solving clinical problems be augmented with information from relevant, research-derived evidence. In this article, the authors describe how one graduate program prepares advanced practice nurses to use the best scientific evidence with clinical expertise to influence patient outcomes. The assignments that students complete in their program provide examples of evidence-based practice that apply quality improvement principles and science-based nursing interventions to create best practices.