Is Care Quality Improved Through Evidence-Based Practice?

Is Care Quality Improved Through Evidence-Based Practice? 1
IS CARE QUALITY IMPROVED THROUGH EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE?
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Is Care Quality Improved Through Evidence-Based Practice? 2
Is Care Quality Improved Through Evidence-Based Practice?
Introduction
Evidence-based practice is not a new concept in the field of nursing. With its application
continuing to grow steadily across the globe, not many can argue against the idea that it has
positively impacted the quality of care. The principles of evidence-based practice formally came
into limelight in 1992 in medicine where it was referred to as evidence-based medicine before
spreading to fields like nursing, dentistry, and psychology. Evidence-based practice in nursing
encompasses infection control, oxygen use in patients with COPD, measuring blood pressure
noninvasively in children, intravenous catheter size, and blood administration, among other
examples. In the United States, evidence-based practice has been identified as a key factor in
fulfilling Berwick et.al (2008) Triple Aim in healthcare which entails improving patient care
experience, improving population health, and reducing the healthcare per capita cost. The Triple
Aim currently entails a fourth goal which involves increasing work life and decreasing burnout
in clinicians. What is evidence-based practice?
Evidence-based practice refers to the process of coming up with clinical decisions based
on evidence, alongside clinical experience and expectations of the patient (Kirschbaum and Short
2018). It can also be defined as a clinical decision-making framework that inspires clinical
practitioners to incorporate data from a high quality qualitative and quantitative research with the
client's values and background alongside clinical expertise. This practice entails evidence
assessment using a hierarchy of various types of evidence (Sellman et al, 2016). To obtain an
evidence upon which you can base your decision, you begin by phrasing your case as a specific
answerable question. This may be done through PICO where P stands for your patient or

Is Care Quality Improved Through Evidence-Based Practice? 3
population group. I stand for you intervention or indicator. C stands for your comparison or
control. While O stands for the outcome you are looking for (Kirschbaum and Short 2018).
How is Evidence-Based Practice Used in Nursing?
Evidence-based practice encompasses the following components. These are best available
evidence, clinician's knowledge, and skills, and patients want and need (Hall and Roussel, 2016).
When all these three components are fully integrated into clinical decisions, the prospect for
optimal clinical outcomes and quality of life become greatly enhanced.
The transition to evidence-based practice has influenced nursing in a number of ways.
One area affected by this transition is the nursing education (Schmidt et al, 2014) . Nursing
program curricula have been altered by universities and colleges to create room for incorporation
of the evidence-based practice. Currently, students who seek to pursue a nursing degree will
encounter coursework that includes the significance of professional accountability alongside
nurse's overall knowledge base (Grove et al, 2014). These new programs put a lot of emphasis on
critical thinking skills and advise the practitioner to look into the clinical, religious, cultural and
socioeconomic background of the patient and apply related scientific research in their practice.
The increasing use of evidence-based practice has also attracted more interest in nursing
research as well as an emphasis on the same. Although nursing programs may have a few
courses detailing research, students find it beneficial honing their research skills further. Through
nursing research, they become accustomed to new scientific data that may have a more direct
influence on their nursing career.
Various research methodologies in evidence-based practiced may prepare nurses for
careers outside the bedside. Nurses become exposed to diverse openings in the field of research
upon completion of Master of Science Degree and ascend to more independent roles that require