Febrile Seizures

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.

Even though evidence informed practice helps improve healthcare, there are still a few limitations. One main limitation is lack of time and accessibility. The best quality evidence is usually very difficult to locate, a busy nurse may not have the time to delve deep to find reliable sources. (NICE 2007) However there are now

Seizures or epilepsy are brain disorders where the person has repeated convulsions over a period of time. They’re episodes of disturbed brain activity that cause changes in attention and behavior. Seizures are considered the most common observed neurological dysfunction in children. They are very sudden intermittent episodes of altered consciousness lasting seconds to minutes and include involuntary tonic (stiffening of muscles) and clonic (altering contraction and relaxation of muscles) movements.

Throughout the duration of my placement is was crucial that there was a safe quality of care being given to the residents. This overall achieving the goal for the residents, which is to maintain or attain the highest possible health and wellness through both short term and long term realistic expected outcomes (Lewis 2010 p.17). During my placement, it was important to set measurable and realistic short term goals for residents for a range of different reasons. These included tasks such as breathing exercises and eating 3 main meals each day. The specific task would be included in the residents’ care plan to ensure all staff members were aware and could document any concerns or changes.

Evidence-based practice is an approach used by health care professionals to continually use current best evidence-based research to make ethical and reliable decisions regarding patient care. “Research to promote evidence-based practice is becoming more and more a part of the regular work of health care leaders” (Grand Canyon University, 2015, p. 1). However, it is important to determine the difference between solid research and flawed research that provides unreliable inferences. Evidence-based research includes focusing on a clinical question; and includes the review and incorporation of several studies to strengthen the results of the new study (Grand Canyon University, 2015). Roddy et al. and Ganz et al. articles will be assessed to determine if the recommended changes were backed by solid research that warrants changes in a hospital.

Research, quality improvement (QI), and evidence-based practice (EBP) all play an important role in the field of healthcare and are essential for the delivery of quality patient care. While each involves teamwork, critical thinking, and creativity there are distinct differences between them.

Seizure disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic (2015), affect approximately 1 in 26 people in the United States. Persistent, or chronic, seizures result from a condition called epilepsy, a neurological disorder of the central nervous system. It can affect anyone regardless of age, but is more common during early childhood and after age 60. Given the number of people that seizure disorders, such as epilepsy, affect, it becomes helpful to gain a foundational understanding of the disease, including some of the causes, symptoms, and treatments available.

Evidence-based practice is defined as the “integration of best current evidence with clinical expertise and patient or family preferences and values for the delivery of optimal health care” (Quality and Safety Education for Nurses, 2012). It is “the use of research in clinical decision making” (Brower, 2017).With the tremendous changes in the healthcare landscape, many processes have to be evaluated for its relevance, reliability,

The findings from good, current, reliable, valid or trustworthy research are the basis for maintaining high standards of care and all nurses must practice based on the most up to date evidence (NMC 2008). It is now an important part of nursing to actively participate in research and evidence based practice in order to continually improve the standard of the health care system. This process ensures that nurses are kept up to date with relevant information needed to provide the most effective care for patients.

Evidence based practice has a great impact on health care system, nursing practice, teaching, and science. The necessity for evidence based quality enhancement and healthcare alteration underscores the requirement for redesigning and implementing care that is effectual, secure and competent (Stevens, K., Ma., 2013). The movement of evidence based practice commenced with the identification of the problems faced in healthcare system. The unacceptable gap between what we know and what we do in the patients care(Kohn, L. T., Corrigan, J. M., & Donaldson, M. S. 2001). The main intend of evidence based practice in health care is to provide the resources by which the most latest relevant evidence from research and studies can be judiciously

Seizures may arise at any stage of age, but certain periods of life present a higher risk for their emergence. The frequency of seizures in the epileptic population varies widely. Some epileptic experiences only two seizures in a lifetime, and other may suffer 100 of attacks daily. Approximately 25 percent of epileptic experience seizures that are uncontrolled by current forms of

Those seizures affect the whole body and brain of the patient, and are much more serious than partial or focal seizure, which only affects one muscle or one part of the body,

I remember three years ago, my family and I went to Palm Springs for the first time. That night I was fascinated, not from the beauty of the Palm desert, but the fact that my brother would have a seizure exactly twenty minutes after falling asleep. His brain acted like a clock-working machine. Exactly twenty minutes. Now what chemicals could his body be producing after falling asleep for twenty minutes that would trigger the seizure, I do not know, but I wanted to find out. Moreover, I had to alway keep an eye on my brother throughout the day, especially after he started losing control of his body and falling down without warning. The first time he experienced this, he could have cracked his head open if my father was not nearby to catch is forceless body. There is nothing more stressing than waking up nervous for tests and project while witnessing my own brother shaking uncontrollably. These are some things that clouded my thoughts and focus everyday when I was trying to pay attention in class. Right now, I could not be more than thankful that my brother hasn't had a seizure for months. The changes started taking place right after Christmas of last year, just like a Christmas

People uneducated about Epilepsy may have confused thoughts on what it really is. People have these "notions," which are partly or entirely not true. So, throughout this research paper, these notions will be proven untrue, mostly by factual information given by

Although seizures have been characterized for a long time, they are continually redefined by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) to better characterize those arising from due to standalone structural neurologic disorders (i.e., epilepsy), versus those that are secondary to an existing illness (e.g., febrile types seen in cases of infection), among others1. In this literature review, the focus is on febrile seizures (FS) in pediatric groups and the pathogens most often associated with them. However before delving into a discussion about the pathogens associated with FS it would be appropriate, at this moment, to delineate the criteria that characterize a febrile seizure. Currently, complex FS are described as one that arises in one side of the brain (that is, it’s focal), occurs more than once during a febrile illness within a 24-hour period, or lasts more than 10-15 minutes.2 My febrile patient suffered a similar episode also presented with had initially