Introduction and objective:
Implementing the concept of evidence-based nursing practice (EBNP) into the professional practice of nurses conforms with the latest global standards, increases the safety of the care provided and minimises its costs, and the recognition of the barriers to its use enables proper clarification of the implications for nursing practice supporting the use of this strategy. The aim of this study was to identify potential barriers to EBNP use among occupationally active nurses.

Material and methods:
The survey was conducted among 106 practicing nurses employed at the J. Sniadecki Specialist Hospital in Nowy Sącz and occupationally active nursing students of the Academy of Applied Sciences in Nowy Sącz. The study was conducted by the method of a diagnostic survey, using the Polish version of the Evidence-Based Practice Profile Questionnaire (EBP2Q) and the respondents’ particulars. The data obtained were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test.

Results:
82.1% of respondents indicated a limitation of the applied EBNP requirements in their own professional practice; about 1/3 of respondents systematically (daily/weekly) implemented its elements in their own work. The most important barriers reported by the respondents were lack of time (71.7%) and workload (68.9%).

Conclusions:
Lower age of nurses (20–40 years), higher education level and shorter work experience (up to 10 years) were significantly related with obtaining higher scores on all applied subscales of the questionnaire, which is equivalent to the perception of EBNP in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes as a higher level of readiness for its implementation. The problem for the implementation of EBNP was also due to organizational constraints in the workplace, lack of time, and workload.