Evidence Based Practice

As a provider of care, professional nurses depend on research, theories, and evidence based practice to guide the care they provide to patients. Nurses deliver care to their patients based on information they have learned through many years of school and training. Training for nurses and other providers of care is founded on theories, research, and evidence based practice in the healthcare field. Theories, research, and evidence based practice are all important for providing care to patients and each can be used in a different manner depending on the situation. Clinicians often use research based evidence to design and implement care that is high-quality and cost effective for patients. Evidence based practice can be used to provide care to patients in a steadily changing clinical environment. (PDF page 8-9). Nursing theories are frequently used as frameworks for establishing nursing care interventions and assessing

Proper collection of blood cultures are necessary and the most direct method of determining whether or not a patient is septic. The purpose of obtaining blood cultures is to identify and isolate the bacteria that are causing an illness and then determine the best course of treatment based on the sensitivity of the bacteria to particular antibiotics. One of the most frustrating problems plaguing hospitals is the increased rate at which blood culture results are being returned as contaminated specimens. These results can lead to a significant increase in cost to the hospital and patient as well as an increased length in hospital

Evidence based practice is an integral part of nursing care. According to the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, evidence based practice is defined as, “the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about patient care.” (AMSN) The use of evidence based practice has drastically improved patient outcomes, increased quality and safety of healthcare, and reduced costs for facilities. (Melnyk, 2016) In this paper I will provide the history of evidence based practice, how it has already been incorporated and impacted healthcare, and why it is important to nursing and healthcare as a whole.

In the past few decades, many nursing practices were relied on state regulation, cost, or insurance policy. However, evidence based practice (EBP) are increasingly recognized and emphasized to change in nursing practice. For many clinical settings, there are thousands of resources available today. Not only most of nursing practice are made based on a pilot study but also implied to bring most benefits of the care.

Gerrish, K. Lathlean, J. (2015). The research process in nursing. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons. p263.

Another important barrier is nursing education. Nurses who graduated many years ago were not taught evidence-based practice and even current schools focus too much researching rather than how to implement current research into care (AJN, 2012). This lack of knowledge on how to implement may stem from the lack of knowledge on how to read and interpret research data or that nurses might feel overwhelmed due to the fact that there is so much and might not know how to narrow what is important or how to read all of it (Brown et al., 2009). In the Tacia study (2015), advanced care nurses could easily point out

In this essay, I am going to consider how evidence-based practice can be used to support, justify, legitimate and/or improve clinical practice. I am also going to explore and discuss primary and secondary research evidences about how nursing interventions can potentially improve the quality of life of patients in the community suffering from heart failure. I will gather these evidences using a literature search which I will include an account of. Using a critiquing framework for support, I will appraise both primary and secondary evidences that I have chosen. I will also look at potential non-evidential factors that can influence evidence utilisation in practice. Finally, a conclusion will be drawn.

Itroduction: Evidence-based practice is an approach to medicine that uses scientific evidence to determine the best practice (Beyea & Slattery, 2006). As nurses perform their daily tasks they must continually ask themselves, “What is the evidence for this intervention?”. Nurses are well positioned to question current nursing practices and use evidence to make care more effective. In order to improve patients’ outcomes it is the responsibility of the nurse to transition evidence-based practice into the norm, through application of daily practice (Flynn Makic, Rauen, Watson & Will Poteet, 2014). Continual evaluation of current practice must be performed to ensure the use of evidence-based practice opposed to practice based upon tradition. The implementation of evidence-based practice standardizes healthcare practices and diminishes groundless variations within care. These variations lead to the production of uncertain health outcomes (Stevens, 2013).

Evidence base practice is essential in nursing practice. It incorporates 3 key components which are clinical expertise, patient values, and best research evidence in order to provide the most effective and safe decision making for patient care. Neglecting a key component can affect the accuracy and efficiency of a research. Clinical expertise is based on a clinician’s experience, skill, education level and understanding in a certain area of nursing practice. Patient values can impact evidence base practice depending on their needs, preferences, expectations, values, understanding, and concerns. Best research evidence can be obtained from clinical research with supporting evidence base literature and sound methodologies. Each component will be discussed in further detail and how it links to clinical decision making by registered nurses in order to achieve the best evidence-based practice available.

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) was initially a movement in medicine, dating back to early 20th century (Spring, 2007). It was described as a careful decision making process about the care of individual patients using best available evidence by Sackett, Rosenberg, Gary, Haynes, and Richardson (1996). Greenhalgh (2010) gave a similar definition but with more emphasis on the mathematical assessment of the potential benefit and harm. By now, EBP has been widely adopted by many health disciplines, including psychology. In 2005, the American

Evidence based practice, “involves integrating the best available research evidence with professional expertise while also taking account of patient preferences the patients state setting and circumstance and health care resources” (Gerrish, K. Lathlean, J, 2015). As the health care profession constantly changes, then it is vital that all evidence based practice is kept up to date with current information and research, relating to nursing practice. Always assuring that the patients need are taken into consideration (Sackett et al, 1996).

The impact of evidence based practice has been brought into nursing through education, practice, and science over the last decade. Evidence based practice provides quality care to patients that is effective, safe, and efficient. Evidence based practice promises moving care to a high level of producing the intended health outcome for the patients. “EBP is aimed at hardwiring current knowledge into common care decisions to improve care processes and patient outcomes” (Stevens, 2013). EBP empowers nurses and expands their skills by using the best available evidence to guide nursing care and patient outcomes.

Evidence - Based Nursing, An introduction (2008, p. 285 ) “ The rapidity of change and the reorganization of nursing services within the health care sector presents challenges for the advancement of EBP. Managers and administrators should facilitate the uptake of practice based on current, high-quality research by formalizing the expectation that nurses care be Evidence Based”.

In nursing, evidence-based practice relates to the preferential usage of interventions for which qualitative and empiric research has rendered evidence of substantial efficacy for certain issues in nursing care. The collection, analysis, and integration of crucial, relevant, and pertinent research-driven, patient-reported, and nurse-observed evidences are promoted by evidence-based practice. Another instance or illustration of evidence-based practice is the systematic study of care theories and their implementation to patients. Hence, these attempts act upon against rationalizing of nursing practice on shaky knowledge—solely on the basis of other nurses’ experience—devoid of scientific evidence on which nursing practice can be established.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) in nursing means making decisions about patient care on the basis of best, current, standardized practice and guidelines. According to an article, written by Dr. Kathleen Stevens, the development of evidence-based practice (EBP) is fueled by the increasing public and professional demand for accountability in safety and quality improvement in health care (Stevens, 2013). The author also mentioned in her article that the intended effect of EBP is to standardize healthcare practices to science and best evidence and to reduce illogical variation in care,