What is Evidence-Based Practice?

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  • Length: A minimum of 150 words per post, not including references
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  Evidence-based Practice (EBP) is the process of collecting, processing, and implementing research findings to improve clinical Practice, the work environment, or patient outcomes. Evidence-Based Practice uses the best available evidence to make informed patient-care decisions and compares current professional and clinical practices with new research facts and developments as they emerge (Spallek et al., 2017). EBP asks if contemporary interventions are the most effective or the safest for the patient and uses clinical research evidence as to the basis for clinical decision-making. Florence Nightingale improved patient care in the 1800s when she noted that unsanitary conditions and restricted ventilation could adversely affect patients’ health. She recorded medical statistics using patient demographics to ascertain the number of hospital deaths and the mortality rate connected to different illnesses and injuries. Archie Cochrane introduced applying randomized controlled trials (RTC) and other types of research to the nursing practice in 1972. Before Cochrane’s contribution to healthcare, medical care centered on unfounded assumptions without consideration for the individual patient (Spallek et al., 2017). Cochrane proposed that healthcare systems have limited resources, so they should only use treatments proven to be effective. He believed that RTCs were the most verified form of evidence, and his assertion created the foundation for the EBP movement. The barriers to implementing EBP were time mismanagement, lack of knowledge, negative attitude, lack of motivation, lack of resources and training. These barriers could be categorized under individual and institution level barriers. When searching for evidence-based practice studies in nursing, I must first develop a well-built clinical question. The PICO provides an easy framework for integrating clinical information into developing a research question (Spallek et al., 2017). 

 

Spallek, H., Song, M., Polk, D. E., Bekhuis, T., Frantsve-Hawley, J., & Aravamudhan, K. (2017). Barriers to implementing evidence-based clinical guidelines: A survey of early adopters. Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice, 10(4), 195–206.