Integration of Evidenced-Based Practice into Professional Nursing Practice - Research Paper Example

 Evidence Based-Practice in Professional Nursing Evidence-based medicine was described during the 1980’s as the usage of scientific evidence to apply the best practice. Over the years, the term evidence-based medicine was shifted to evidence-based practice and is now commonly defined by Sackett, Rosenberg, Gray, Hayes, and Richardson (1996) as the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of the current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. Evidence-based practice is used for patient’s desires and preferences so that nurses and clinicians can make the best clinical decision for the patient. Evidence-based practice can be related to research utilization, quality improvement and nursing research. Research utilization is related to evidence-based practice in professional nursing because nurses have been using on-hand researches to guide their nursing practice and also to improve patient outcomes. Research utilization involves critical analysis and evaluation of research findings to find out how they can be incorporated into clinical practice and also to tie the space between practice and research. Quality improvement is related to evidence-based practice in professional nursing because it focuses on areas such as systems, processes, clinical and cost outcomes which contribute to the improvement of best practices in which nurses play an important role. In order to keep improving and maintaining quality, safety and efficiency, healthcare teams must continue to change and redesign care in these clinical microsystems. Quality improvement also addresses to clinical problems, clinical processes and clinical performance which will also lead to the improvement of activities because after the data will be collected and analyzed it will help the healthcare team to understand the process and related outcomes. People have asked if quality improvement project are the same as research projects - that would be a no, they maybe similar because both will acquire data and analysis. However, they differ through participant or subject recruitment and how the results are being used. For example, in quality improvement activities, it is the patients who are the participants in a specific clinical microsystem. While in research efforts, researchers recruit another human subject as participant of the approach that will represent a sample of the population. In improvement activities, treatments maybe changed after the evaluation process is done while in research study, treatments will remain the same. Furthermore, the healthcare team in quality improvement will try to solve a specific problem instead of generalizing the results to other populations, while the healthcare team in research activities will try to gain new knowledge that can be used in other populations and clinical settings. Although research and quality improvement projects have its differences they still both look over the protection of their human subjects. In order to ensure that patients and subjects rights are protected, healthcare teams must ask the Institutional Review Board (IRW) to check its proposal both from research and quality improvement project before performing the study and collecting the data. Nursing research is related to evidence-based practice in professional nursing because it studies specifically to refine, improve, develop and expand the knowledge of nursing. Quantitative, qualitative and triangulated are methods in nursing research. In quantitative method, researchers use surveys or quantifiable data to measure knowledge, beliefs, attitudes or experiences. They have charts and numbers to support their results. In qualitative method, researchers use interviews or narrative analyses to understand a specific subject. While triangulated method is the use of both quantitative and qualitative method. No matter what method to use, researchers must acquire quality analysis and accurate data. The purpose of each method is to answer the questions and develop knowledge using scientific method. The data collected through scientific method will contribute so much to the best practice because these data’s have been tested and has been measured. In conducting nursing research, researchers must learn and get involved in related terms to evidence-based nursing practice. It is also advisable to work with experienced researchers in evidence-based practice in order to build a strong foundation in analyzing, critiquing and evaluating published research. Nurses play an important role in applying and providing evidence-based practice. Nurses are supported by other healthcare team members to determine clinical problems and to use available evidence to improve practice. There are a lot of situations in where nurses can question the current nursing practice in order to develop patients care more effectively. Evidence-based practice will provide nurses high – quality patient care because it is based on research and knowledge and not on myths, traditions or outdated textbooks. For example, if a clinical problem arises, should the healthcare team member scan the book for answers? Remember that books are not published every year, thus new knowledge of efficient and effective practices cannot be found that easy. That’s why it is really important to conduct new researches to ensure that patients care is up to date. Evidence-based practice can be used to deliver professional nursing care because it results to better patient outcomes, it contributes to the science of nursing, it keeps practice current and relevant, it increases confidence in decision making, policies and procedures are current and it includes the latest research, and Integration of EBP into nursing practice is essential for high – quality patient care and achievement of ANCC Magnet Recognition Program (MRP) designation. It would be easier for nurses to implement evidence-based practice if they refer to already-developed evidence based guidelines. A number of expert groups have already undergone systematic approach to develop guidelines that would be beneficial to both health care providers and patients to make the best decisions about care interventions. A clinical example that improved a patient’s outcome is when a recent published evidence-based project explained the benefits of not continuing the routine practice of listening to the patients bowel sound after undergoing an elective abdominal surgery. The literature was reviewed by the authors who led to an assessment of the current practice. And they have developed a new practice guideline; Madsen (2005) reported that clinical parameters such as the return of flatus and first postoperative bowel movement were more helpful than bowel sounds in determining the return of gastrointestinal mobility after abdominal surgery. Authors claim that this evidence-based project appeared without having negative patient outcomes and has saved nursing time. Reference Page Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2005). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare :A guide to best practice. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Strauss, S. E., Richardson, W. S., Glasziou, P., & Haynes, R. B. (2005). Evidence-based medicine : How to practice and teach EBM (3rd Ed.). Edinburgh ; New York: Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone. Burns, Nancy.,Grove,Susan.(2010) Understanding Nursing Research: Building an Evidence- Based Practice (5th Ed.). Health Sciences Division. Beyea,Suzanne C.,Slattery, Mary Jo.(2006) Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing: A Guide to Successful Implementation. Retreived May 26, 2011 from: http://www.hcmarketplace.com/supplemental/3737_browse.pdf Read More