Disciplined Clinical Inquiry (DCI) provides the tools, principles & processes that facilitate nurses in making reasoned judgments about the most current body of evidence available on a clinical issue. These judgments form the basis for making and applying the best nursing practice decisions.

DCI  has five foundational principles that bind the tools and processes in a seamless framework. These are:  Language, Leadership, Learning, Linkages, and Locus of care.

Language. DCI  articulates and presents the language of EBP into a learner-friendly format that is meaningful and understandable to the bedside nurse. Technical words used in the various sites are hyperlinked to a site called "JARGON" that provides simple definitions, examples and  the application of  concepts and principles in clinical practice. DCI’s strategy of nurses' gradual immersion in the core EBP competencies  is facilitated by exercises that provide opportunities for the  immediate and practical application of concepts and principles.