Nursing: Evidence Based Practice

Recommended by the Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses to learn more about evidence based practice.

Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality - from clinical practice guidelines to continuing education, research tools and applications for funding and grants, AHRQ will engage the novice to expert nurse. 

AGREE II Instrument Website (Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation) - this website allows for members to evaluate the process and quality of practice guideline development and gives guidance on how to properly evaluate to facilitate the providers in making their own assessment prior to adopting recommendations into their own practice.

Health Sciences & Human Services Library, University of Maryland -this website offers an introduction and tutorial on the concepts and application of evidence based practice.

Healthlinks at the University of Washington - this website offers a guide to finding, learning and constructing questions in the pursuit of evidence based practice.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement - IHI is a primary resource for tools and methods to identify design and implement best practices. As the leading innovator in health care improvement, IHI is an invaluable resource for health and health care practices.

McMaster University - this website holds a library of resources aligned with the principals of evidence based practices.

National Guideline Clearinghouse - Coordinated by the AHRQ, this website provides structured, standardized summaries of clinical practice guidelines. The searchable database includes practice guidelines related to a wide range of clinical issues from regional, national, and international organizations. In many cases, links to the full documents are provided.

Oncology Nursing Society - this website contains a wealth of resources related to evidence based nursing practice, including an overview, tutorials, and a toolkit. While clinical resources are related to oncology nursing practice, many resources are applicable in a wide range of settings.

Oxford Centre for Evidence-based Medicine  - this website provides in-depth strategies, resources, and references about appraising and using evidence in health care. Although intended primarily for physicians, the information is applicable to all health care providers with an interest in evidence based practice.

PubMed - This article database includes over 22 million citations from journal articles and online books related to biomedicine and health. A detailed tutorial about use of the database for conducting searches is provided. When available, links to full text articles are provided.

Registered Nurses Association of Ontario – Nursing Best Practice Guidelines - this website provides information and resources on development and utilization of nursing best practice guidelines. Although intended for members, the information is accessible to health care providers with an interest in best practices literature.

University of Texas Health Science Center School of Nursing Ace Star - This website for the Academic Center for Evidence-Based Practice (ACE) serves as a resource to bridge research to practice, to advance nursing roles, nursing knowledge and practice through education and resources.

Trip Database - this search engine serves to help the user “find evidence fast” by entering keywords to search journal and database articles.

VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines - This website provides access to clinical practice guidelines developed or published by the Veteran’s Administration/Department of Defense. These guidelines were developed to improve the health and outcomes of our veterans. The information is accessible to health care providers and applicable across adult populations.

What is EBP?

Evidence-based practice (EBP) was initially defined as the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about patient care. (Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg, & Haynes, 2000). This definition has since been broadened to include a life-long problem-solving approach to healthcare delivery that integrates best evidence from high quality studies, the clinician’s expertise and the patient’s preferences and values (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2015).

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. EBP is a shared competency amongst nursing, medicine and health professions such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and social work. EBP has demonstrated an improvement in healthcare quality, patient outcomes, cost reduction ( Melnyk, Gallagher-Ford & Fineout-Overholt, 2017).

Source: Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses

Search the HELM Library catalog using the term evidence based practice.

Search Ebrary for books using the term evidence based practice.

Search Credo using the term evidence based practice, limiting by subject and searching in medicine.

Why is EBP relevant to nursing practice?

• There is a gap between what we know and what we do
•  Nursing practice can and must be changed from tradition-based to science-based
•  Improved Patient Outcomes
•  Decreased unnecessary procedures & complications
•  Greater provider job satisfaction
•  Third party reimbursement
•  Effective nursing practice requires information, judgment, and skill
•  EBP empowers nurses and expands their skills

Best Practice: Evidence Based Information Sheets for Health Professionals

Search DOAJ for Evidence Based Practice in Nursing

Below are some of the results from the search above.  For further articles on this topic, click on the link above.

Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing - "Evidence for Psychiatric Nursing Practice: An Analysis of Three Years of Published Research
Authors: Zauszniewski, J., Suresky, J
Publisher: Kent State University School of Nursing
Date of publication: 2003 December
Published in: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, Vol 9, Iss 1(2003)
ISSN(s): 1091-3734
Full text: http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Volume92004/No1Jan04/HirshArticle/EvidenceforPsychiatricNursingPractice.html
Abstract:
Psychiatric and mental health nursing practice continues to be strongly influenced by tradition, unsystematic trial and error, and authority. Yet the need for quality care that is based on the best and most current empirical research is well documented. Achieving evidence-based practice in the psychiatric nursing specialty will require that qualified nurse researchers conduct research relevant for practice and appropriately disseminate that research to those who can best use it, practicing nurses. This State of the Evidence Review analyzed the 227 data-based studies published in the five most commonly read American psychiatric nursing journals from January 2000 through December 2002. Five major research foci were found: global perspectives, psychiatric nurses as subjects, studies of family caregivers, research with clients across the life span, and testing of nursing interventions. About 88% of the studies were conducted in the United States; 63% involved recipients of mental health care services; but only 11% tested psychiatric nursing interventions. Promoting evidence-based practice in psychiatric nursing will require increasing the numbers of psychiatric nurse researchers, enriching the research process (i.e., increasing relevance and appropriate dissemination), and implementing changes in practice that are based on the best and most currently available evidence, rather than on the equivalents of "Old Wives’ Tales."

Evidence-based nursing management: Challenges and facilitators
Authors: Havva Arslan Yurumezoglu, Gulseren Kocaman
Publisher: Sciedu Press
Date of publication: 2013 January
Published in: Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, Vol 3, Iss 8(2013)
ISSN(s): 1925-4040, 1925-4059
Full text: http://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/jnep/article/view/1887
Abstract: This review introduces a new approach for nursing management called Evidence Based Nursing Management (EBNMgt). EBNMgt is the integration of the best research evidence with nurse managers’ expertise and nurses’ preferences. Even though it is commonly acknowledged that health care should be evidence-based, evidence-based decision making in the field of nursing management has not been addressed adequately in terms of what actually determines the quality of nursing care and working conditions of nurses. This review discusses the significance of evidence-based nursing management from the perspective of both academics and managers, and elaborates on both the difficulties of implementing evidence-based nursing management and ways of facilitating implementation. Collaborative models between universities and hospitals could be used as a method to facilitate the implementation of evidence-based nursing management in order to improve nursing care and the working environment. Like evidence-based nursing, evidence-based nursing management should also be carefully studied for the professionalization of nursing and for better patient care.