nursing essay

nursing essay

The Importance of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing

1. Introduction to Evidence-Based Practice

Upon its proof, evidence-based practice has begun to cover many disciplines. It encompasses education, especially nursing and social sciences, health and evidence-based project management. It is important that individuals who take graduate, undergraduate or associate degrees from a department, to have professional knowledge and practices based on scientific evidence when they start to work. Otherwise, failure to use newly discovered scientific information and methods in practice causes damage in that field. Evidence-based practice can only be realized with the curriculum of the program for individuals who undergo professional training to be renewed, to be able to understand and to be evaluated well.

Contents

Evidence-based practice is the framework that plays a particularly important role in the field of nursing. Given the fact that this field is directly tied to human health, the education of individuals working in the field should be based on verifiable and current scientific information. Since one of the basic structures in an educational system is the curriculum, the main goal of this research is to evaluate the evidence-based practice lessons included in the curriculum in the nursing departments. The purpose of this article is to provide evidence of the effects of the evidence-based practice course to enable the creation of an educational program required by the principles of evidence-based practice.

Introduction

2. Benefits of Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing

Evidence-based practice has been suggested as a methodology that can benefit nursing in closing the gap between theory and practice. It can guide nursing by using research as its basis and lead to knowledge development which can emanate from observation or creativity. Mapping the gap will require simplified and improved knowledge on which sound and simplified decisions can be based while training time and energies can be preserved. Efficient intervention will depend on powerful and workable patient-focused systems. Efforts to reduce the gap should focus on the completion of the best available research, including evidence from the clinical encounter in practice data. Associations in the network and practicum will benefit from strengthening relationships to most efficiently transmit and apply knowledge which can benefit nursing.

These guidelines elevate the success of patient outcomes and care provided while aiding nurses in discovering the best evidence and applying it to their decisions. By using research findings, nurses can endorse a type of practice that clarifies care and extensive consequences as recognized by patients. Simply, these basic principles characterize the powerful impact of the meticulous, compassionate, and ethical care provided by nurse professionals aspiring to the highest standards of clinical service. Moreover, applying these concepts can result in a distinguishing combination of trust with patients and families. Evidence-based practice reflective to nursing guarantees the most reliable up-to-date care. Hence, such centered patient care practices are commonly available in the professional arena. Therefore, institutions should use their nursing care practice as a marketable point of reference, guaranteeing wide-ranging and superior modern patient care.

3. Challenges and Barriers in Utilizing Evidence-Based Practice

Inadequate access to research findings is also classified as an internal barrier. This includes access to computer databases or journals, inadequate library resources, no photocopying services, and access to full-text articles. Other internal barriers found were that some nurses did not use the library for journal articles and as a result only use readily available journals. There is opposition within the nursing profession claimed as an internal barrier to the use of research findings. Feminist thinkers who call for transformative power used in nursing practice to address the oppressiveness of today’s healthcare environment object to a research agenda that seeks trustworthiness, reliability, and precision in responding to problematic situations. The need for a theoretical foundation or a philosophical presupposition places some nurses in a ‘Catch 22’ situation. Other found external barriers were having to use hospital policy and procedures which might not be supported by research findings or having to conform to the expectations of fellow nursing staff.

Despite the documented need for nurses and other healthcare providers to use evidence-based literature in their practice, significant barriers exist. Barriers are identified as internal and external. Internal barriers include not having time to read and lack of access to evidence. The most often reported barrier is not having time to read. This has been documented in research studies. One study looked into this barrier and found that nurses’ ability to read shortened as one became further from graduation from their last educational program, less likely to be in an academic institution, not using a photocopy service, and not using the library for journal articles. Studies also support that research utilization increases with access to resources. Other internal barriers discovered were that some nurses felt that they lacked the ability to critically appraise articles or to adequately evaluate the data presented in the research studies.

4. Strategies for Overcoming Barriers to Implementing Evidence-Based Practice

Obtaining the resources to gain access to internal or external courses or to attend conferences and requiring off-duty time during traditional “business” hours required for courses or seminars can be problematic and are considered external barriers. Sometimes the incentive for learning through attendance at a formal course or seminar is associated with professional advancement, but when lack of time, funding, or access is experienced, nurses may be discouraged from participating. Publication of research findings in the clinical journals received by nurses implies that the information in these journals is the most current evidence. However, the credibility of the research is not always apparent, and therefore, nurses may not feel they should devote the time, effort, and energy to critique a study and apply the findings in practice. They are then selective in their choice of reading material.

Nurses need to take initiative to educate themselves about scientific methods and critically appraise published research. Barriers to learning about scientific inquiry and using research findings in practice have been studied for many years. These barriers have been classified into descriptive categories. Some of these categories are internal (personal or professional), and some are external. All of them require skill, motivation, resources, and access. Of the internal deterrents, disinterest, values, needs, and lack of confidence have been reported by nurses. One personal barrier to evidence-based practice is related to nurses’ complex careers and multiple roles; nurses question when and how they will have time to read and digest scientific literature.

5. Conclusion and Future Directions in Evidence-Based Practice

Clinical competence and quality of care are acknowledged as vital issues that EBP seeks to address for nursing care. Team interfaces and internal organizational structures may need to be re-addressed or enhanced so that the chief outcomes integral in empirical data are generated. Enhancing EBP goes beyond mere infrastructural changes such as support for specialist liaison librarians or searching skills training and encompasses the use of statistical consultants and provision of electronic resources of the highest accessible integrity. Training in data manipulation and statistical testing of hypotheses may also be required. Nurses are the first to appreciate that clinical evidence may be based not only on research but also on the best published theory, expert opinion, and feedback received from peers working with specialist services. With EBP, the role of the nurse becomes multifocal, incorporating skills and working practices from multiple academic disciplines, from those of psychologist to sociologist and expert clinical consultant.

In conclusion, EBP is not a new term in the field of evidence-based practice; it is a subject that has been sought after for centuries in order to provide quality care. Some may feel that it may be easy to achieve, while others find it very frustrating. Sometimes the issue in providing care is that patients do not comply with the BPG. It is important to use clinical skills, professional opinions, informed patient choices, and pertinent evidence not always based on clinical trials. Each may relate to its essential focus: the best interest of the patient. To achieve EBP, we must collaborate and integrate all aspects of the patient’s needs, values, and practices that we face daily in clinical settings. Patient care is the primary concern for all, and the use of EBP helps bring about effective and efficient care for the patient.