Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare.
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Available Online at http://www.uphtr.com/IJNRP/home
International Journal of Nursing Research and Practice
EISSN 2350–1324; Vol. 2 No. 2 (2015) July—December
Evidence based practice (EBP) is the conscientious use of
current best evidence in making decisions about patient care; it is
a clinical problem solving strategy that de–emphasizes decision
making based on custom and emphasizes the integration of
research evidence with clinical expertise and patient
Evidence based practice (EBP) “involves an ability to access,
summarize, and apply information from the literature to
day–to–day clinical problems”. Evidence based practice “requires
an emphasis on systematic observation and experience and a
reliance on the research literature to substantiate nursing
decisions.” Evidence based practice allows practitioners to meet
a daily need for valid information about clinical situations.2
The EBP process is a method that allows the practitioner to
assess research, clinical guidelines and other information
resources based on high quality findings and apply the results to
practice.Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare. It is a problem solving approach to clinical practice and
administrative issues that integrates:
a systematic search for and critical appraisal of the most
relevant evidence to answer a burning clinical question
one’s own clinical expertise
patient preferences and values.3
1. Why Evidence based nursing
Evidence–based nursing (EBN) is one approach that may enable
nurses to manage the explosion of new literature and technology
and ultimately may result in improved patient outcomes.
Nursing students spend a great deal of preclinical preparation
time designing care plans, reviewing pathophysiology, and
memorizing pharmacologic interactions. Although these activities
are useful, they cannot be the only method of preparing students
for nursing practice.
Sole reliance on textbooks and expert faculty knowledge does
not promote the critical thinking skills that nurses must have to
survive in the current fast paced clinical settings. Students must
learn to develop independent, evidence–based methods of
clinical decision making. Both medical and nursing professionals
have explored this change in healthcare practice, research and
knowledge development, a paradigm shift called “evidence
based practice.Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare.
EBNis an approach to making quality decisions and providing
nursing care based upon personal clinical expertise in
combination with the most current, relevant research available
on the topic. EBN implements the most up to date methods of
providing care, which have been proven through appraisal of
high quality studies and statistically significant research findings.
The goal of EBN is to improve the health and safety of patients
while also providing care in a cost–effective manner to improve
the outcomes for both the patient and the healthcare system.
EBN is a process founded on the collection, interpretation,
appraisal, and integration of valid, clinically significant, and
applicable research. Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare.The evidence used to change practice or
make a clinical decision can be separated into seven levels of
evidence that differ in type of study and level of quality. To
properly implement EBN, the knowledge of the nurse, the
patient’s preferences, and multiple studies of evidence must all
be collaborated and utilized in order to produce an appropriate
solution to the task at hand. These skills are taught in modern
nursing education and also as a part of professional training.
2.The steps of EBN
Cultivate Spirit of Inquiry: A spirit of inquiry refers to an
attitude in which questions are encouraged to be asked about
existing practices. Cultivating the spirit of inquiry allows health
care providers to feel comfortable with questioning current
methods of practice and challenging these practices to create
improvements and change.Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare.
3. Uses of EBP
The use of evidence based practice depends a great deal on the
nursing student’s proficiency at understanding and critiquing the
research articles and the associated literature that will be
presented to them in the clinical setting.
4. Barriers of EBP
There are many barriers to promoting evidence based practice.
The first of which would be the practitioner’s ability to critically
appraise research. This includes having a considerable amount
of research evaluation skills, access to journals, and clinic/
hospital support to spend time on EBN. Time, workload
pressures, and competing priorities can impede research and
development.Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare.
Another barrier is that the practice environment can be resistant
to changing tried and true conventional methods of practice.
This can be caused because of reluctance to believe results of
research study over safe, traditional practices, cost of adopting
new practices, or gaining momentum to rewrite existing
protocols.5
5. Conclusion
Evidence based practice allows nurses to enrich their clinical
training and experience with up to date research. With the large
amount of research and information that exists in nursing,
learning the skills of evidence based practice allows nurses to
search for, assess, and apply literature to their clinical situations. Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare.