Adopting Evidence-Based Practice by Nurses at My Workplace

Every year, a lot of money is pumped into the healthcare sector for the purpose of improving it. This effort has led to invention of more effective healthcare procedures, medicines, and medical equipment that enable health workers to provide quality treatment and care to patients. One of such new trends is the adoption of evidence-based practice (EBP). The International Council of Nurses defines EBP as “a problem-solving approach to clinical decision making that incorporates a search for the best and latest evidence, clinical expertise and assessment, and patient preference values within a context of caring” (2012, p. 6). It involves the incorporation of research findings into nurse-patient interactions, and clinical decision making for the purpose of delivering quality and cost-effective patient care. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how EBP is applied in my workplace as a nurse.

Application of EBP at Workplace

EBP is an important healthcare approach in the nursing care setting. At my workplace, this strategy is used to formulate clinical questions that are used to assess various health problems (April & Sandra, 2017). This helps to ensure that patient’s conditions are well diagnosed and effectively addressed by nurses. EBP enables us to collect and analyze the best evidence available, and apply it to clinical practice (Majid et al., 2011; Chien, 2019). The undertaking helps to ensure that right decisions are made in the provision of nursing care services. This leads to the delivery of healthcare services of high quality that are able to increase chances of patient recovery. 

Unlike traditional healthcare approaches, EBP allows us to question the current nursing practices. We use new research facts to determine whether these practices are effective to patients (April & Sandra, 2017; Chien, 2019). This has led to adoption of new procedures and methods that are able to improve the standard of nursing care. During emergency cases, EBP helps to ensure that risky practices are avoided at all costs (Majid et al., 2011). The approach enables nurses to understand what is supposed to be done. This knowledge helps to promote better patient outcomes since nurse practitioners tend to do their best in order to provide healthcare services that are safe to patients.   

Latest medical equipment and technologies are part of EBP since they lead to provision of better services to various types of patients (Chien, 2019). My workplace is increasingly embracing this trend. New technologies save time. Thus, they enable nurses to provide cost-efficient services. New medical equipment is effective in the sense that it leads to minimization of medical errors. EBP requires nurses to adhere to the nursing code of conduct in their practice (Chien, 2019). This helps to promote professionalism in nursing. Adherence of the code of conduct is crucial for the growth of not only the nursing profession, but also the healthcare organization as a whole.

It is also important to note that EBP allows the inclusion of patients in care plans. At my workplace, we give patients a chance to freely share their concerns, give their preferences, and make important suggestions (April & Sandra, 2017; Chien, 2019). This patient input often leads to better healthcare outcomes. Since EBP is associated with better patient outcomes, it decreases healthcare services demand (Chien, 2019). Thus, this approach minimizes expenses on medical attention. This is unlike traditional approaches that see patients spending a lot of money on healthcare services.         

References:

April M. & Sandra, B. (2017). The History of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing Education and Practice. Journal of Professional Nursing, 33 (1): 51-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2016.05.009.

Chien L. Y. (2019). Evidence-Based Practice and Nursing Research. JNR, 27 (4): e29. https://doi.org/10.1097/jnr.0000000000000346

International Council of Nurses. (2012). Closing the Gap: From Evidence to Action. Retrieved from http://www.icn.ch/publications/2012-closing-the-gap-from-evidence-to-action/

Majid, S., Foo, S., Luyt, B., Zhang, X., Theng, Y. L., Chang, Y. K. & Mokhtar, I. A. (2011). Adopting Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Decision Making: Nurses’ Perceptions, Knowledge, and Barriers. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 99 (3): 229–236. https://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.99.3.010