Assignment Instructions
Describe the steps of the evidence-based research process and the importance of using them. In the initial stages of an EBP project, where do nurses in your specialty go to locate sources of information that help them to determine whether or not a practice problem is appropriate for an evidence-based practice change proposal?
Sample Answer
Describe the steps of the evidence-based research process and the importance of using them.
There are five major steps utilized in the evidence-based research process. The first step is determining the goal of patient care which can be the health improvement of patients with specific conditions. The second step is the acquisition of the best evidence by searching for clinical articles from reliable sources. In the third step, the resources are appraised if the information is valid and of high quality compared to the literature evidence levels (ANA, n.d.). The fourth step is the application of evidence in the delivery of care by making decisions using new information and nursing expertise. The final step is an assessment of the patient outcomes to determine the effectiveness of the treatment and its application to other patients (ANA, n.d.). Utilization of evidence-based research is crucial in ensuring that care decisions are based on the best available literature and it improves patient outcomes. Also, the use of evidence-based research significantly contributed to improvement in care delivery and the development of new knowledge.
In the initial stages of an EBP project, where do nurses in your specialty go to locate sources of information that help them determine whether or not a practice problem is appropriate for an evidence-based practice change proposal? Include two specific sources on information in your discussion.
Nurses can locate resources on various clinical problems from nursing journals. The field of nursing is changing every day and the researchers publish new resources every day. Nursing journals enable nurses from all all over the world to review new care technologies and practices. Examples of databases that give nurses access to peer-reviewed articles are Cochrane Library and PubMed. Cochrane Library comprises databases that consist of different types of independent and high-quality evidence that informs healthcare decision-making. The library consists of databases such as Cochrane Clinical Answers, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR). PubMed is a free resource that supports the search and retrieval of life sciences literature with the aim of improving health. It contains more than 36 million abstracts and citations of healthcare research (Pubmed, 2023). It does also not have full text journals but there are links to the full text.
References
ANA. (n.d.). What is evidence-based practice in nursing? https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/evidence-based-practice-in-nursing/
Pubmed. (2023). PubMed Overview. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/about/