Evidence-Based Practice
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Evidence-Based Practice
Evidence-based practice (EBP) entails the use of the best practice available that has gone through a rigorous scientific process of testing and validation to suit the patient’s health needs. The goal of using evidence-based practice is to ensure the provision of safe and quality care to improve patient outcomes. This paper will look into three articles related to EBP, which address the various ways of using EBP in nursing.
Article 1 ‘Evidence-Based Practice Competence in Nursing Students: An Exploratory Study with Important Implications for Educators’ by (Lam & Schubert, 2019)
The article uses an exploratory research methodology, which incorporates a mixed-method design. Christina Lam holds a Ph.D. and is affiliated with the School of Nursing, James Madison University, and Harrisonburg, VA, USA. Carolyn Schubert has a Master’s in Library and Information Science. She is also the Interim Director of Research & Education Services, Libraries & Educational Technologies, James Madison University, and Harrisonburg, VA, USA.
The article aimed to explore the perceptions on EBP education and competence among baccalaureate students applying Melnyk’s EBP competencies for practicing registered nurses for the basis of comparison. The researchers utilized an exploratory mixed-method design. The first data collection process was done by the use of surveys, which were used to assess the information sources and patterns utilized. The second data collection procedure was semi-structured interviews that explored the student’s understanding of the evidence-based practice and the student’s information-seeking behavior in the healthcare setting. A major theme that emerged from the study was that the students confused EBP with research. Despite students being able to identify the experiences that enabled people to attain EBP competencies, they barely described how best to integrate EBP or better disseminate EBP practices.
The lesson learned from the article is that nursing students do not come to clinical settings ready to integrate EBP into patient care. Therefore, nursing educators should guide students on how to incorporate EBP competencies into the management of the patient’s clinical cases to facilitate the provision of quality and safe care to the patients.
Article 2 ‘Readiness, Barriers and Potential Strength of Nursing in Implementing Evidence-Based Practice’ (Rahmayanti et al., 2020)
The article uses a cross-sectional study method. The three authors of the article are lecturers of different areas of nursing in different institutions. Two of them hold doctorate degrees while one of them holds a Master’s in Nursing and is equally a registered nurse.
The purpose of the article was to identify the readiness, barriers, and strength of nurses in the implementation of evidence-based practice. The methodology used by the researchers was a cross-sectional study method. The study utilized a sample of 186 nurses with the data collection procedure being the Evidence-based Practice Readiness Survey Instruments (EBPR Survey). The results of the study indicate a high median score of 63 of the nurses on. A median score of 21 showed EBP readiness and demonstrated a high level of knowledge. A median score of 21 showed skills and readiness for EBP. A median score of 20.5 showed positive attitudes and beliefs about EBP, while a median score of 20.5 showed a workplace that supports EBP. The result however indicates that 44.1 percent of the nurses lacked certainty about their ability to use EBP despite believing in the importance of EBP.
The lesson learned from this article is that for health organizations to achieve a 100 percent integration of evidence-based practice, the management should provide nurses with EBP training, should pool resources that fully support EBP integration, and at the same time should provide access to literature on EBP among the nurses.
Article 3 ‘Evidence-based practice beliefs and implementations: a cross-sectional study among undergraduate nursing students’ (Abu-Baker et al., 2021)
A cross-sectional study design was used. The authors of the article are affiliated with different health education institutions. Three are affiliated with the Faculty of Nursing in different higher learning institutions in Jordan while the fourth one is affiliated with the Faculty of Irbid college, department of applied sciences in Jordan.
The purpose of the study was to explore the nursing students’ perceptions and the implementation of evidence-based practice as well as look into the differences in beliefs and implementations before the training of EBP and the relationship existing between the two. A cross-sectional study design was used by the researchers with a sample of 241 nursing students from two public universities. The students were asked questions as they appeared in the Evidence-Based Practice Belief and Implementation Scales. The data collection procedure entailed the use of a two-part questionnaire. The first part aimed at collecting data on the participant’s demographic information, such as gender, age, study year, previous EBP training, and university. The second part had the EBP Belief Scale and the EBP Implementation scale by Melynk et al.
The results of the study indicate a notable difference between the student’s EBP beliefs concerning their previous EBP training. The nurse students that had received evidence-based practice training before the research had a significantly high score as compared to those that did not receive the training. Additionally, when it came to EBP implementation, the nurse students that had received the training scored higher in EBP implementation as compared to those that did not. The Pearson correlation test showed that the study did not show any significant association between the EBP belief scale and the EBP implementation scale. The scores were (r=0.106, p=0.101).
The lesson learned from this study is that the training of nurse students on evidence-based practice has a positive implication on their beliefs. More so, the students that have had prior training on EBP tend to implement it more in their clinical setting, therefore, having a positive impact on the patients’ health outcomes. Healthcare organizations should therefore provide EBP training to the nurses; educators should also train the nurse students on EBP with the ultimate goal of improving their beliefs and ensuring that they incorporate EBP in daily clinical decisions.
Conclusion
The three articles highlight the need for EBP training among nurses to facilitate better utilization and integration of evidence-based practice in clinical care. The management of healthcare organizations should pool resources and personnel to provide EBP-related training that is likely to improve the nurses’ beliefs, acceptance, and overall readiness of integrating EBP into clinical care. Through training, the nurses both in education facilities and in clinical settings are likely to gain the skills, knowledge, and competencies required for the successful implementation of EBP. Evidence-based practice has been associated with positive health outcomes, better patient satisfaction, and reduced healthcare costs.
References
Abu-Baker, N. N., AbuAlrub, S., Obeidat, R. F., & Assmairan, K. (2021). Evidence-based practice beliefs and implementations: a cross-sectional study among undergraduate nursing students. BMC nursing, 20(1), 1-8.
Lam, C. K., & Schubert, C. (2019). Evidence‐based practice competence in nursing students: An exploratory study with important implications for educators. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 16(2), 161-168.
Rahmayanti, E. I., Kadar, K. S., & Saleh, A. (2020). Readiness, Barriers and Potential Strenght of Nursing in Implementing Evidence-Based Practice. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 13(2), 1203-1211.