The Issue of Evidence Based-nursing

Subject: Nursing
Pages: 4
Words: 845
Reading time:
3 min
Study level: College

Introduction

Research has shown that, evidence-based nursing has had several reactions from professional colleagues as well as media where majority of the responses have been positive. However, some misgiving and misunderstanding regarding evidence-based nursing has been generated over time and this has led to research that addresses the criticism. Such analysis includes the issue of evidence based-nursing being not new as it is a practice that has existed for several years. There has also been criticism that, evidence-based nursing would promote “cookbook” nursing where the individualized patient care would be disregarded. The other claim has been on a lot of focus on randomized controlled trials and reviews regarding evidence-based health care. (DiCenso, 1998)

Why the article was chosen

The article was chosen because it addresses the misconception that has been witnessed regarding evidence-based nursing and can therefore increase the understanding required to remove the barriers associated with research on evidence-based nursing. The article also has a way of motivating nurses to acquire new skills necessary for evidence based-nursing practice. This is because the main goal for any nurse is to provide the best care to patients within the best of his/her ability.

The article enhances building of a rapport by a nurse to patients thereby enabling him/her to determine patient’s conditions such as being depressed and anxious to discover his/her conditions. This is important to the patient and it can even be made better if the nurse has a good mastery of caring practices as well as interventions that are needed to ensure safe as well as effective delivery of healthcare. The article has reliable patient/nursing teaching instructions because it urges nurses as well as practicing nurses to ensure they practice enough care that is based on most reliable information as it has been for many years in the nursing fraternity.

The article emphasizes the importance of nursing to be a profession based on research in order to obtain evidence in various practices. Although there has been criticism on the overreliance of nursing practice on so many traditions that appear to lack scientific verifications, the article recognizes the importance of identifying barriers that have been hindering evidence based research in order to remove them. (Sackett, 2004)

The benefits of reading this article include equipping nurses as well as practicing nurses on the barriers towards successful evidence-based nursing such as time constraints and lack of access to the required literature as well as poor training in seeking information. Readers of this article will improve their critical appraisal skills and acquire ideology with emphasis in their intellectual knowledge in addition to practical skills.

This would promote a working environment that encourages information seeking for the nurses. This is because a few lessons that are given to a nurse student may not be enough to equip them with knowledge that they need for the rest of their career that involve a lot of gathering as well as interpreting evidence based on research findings. It is possible to incorporate this information into nursing practice through initiatives being developed to enhance research findings. Such initiative includes programs on critical appraisal, conferences on research utilizations as well as working groups involving evidence-based medicine.

A nurse therefore requires that, all evidences are relevant to particular patients. Clinical expertise should ensure balance of both risks and benefits when choosing alternative treatments for individual patients by considering the circumstances of the patient in order to remove the notion that, evidence-based nursing is a cookbook practice. During nursing practice, it is important to recognize clinical expertise as well as patient preference which supersede any other consideration during decision making. For example, if a nurse has an opinion that the patient should not receive a particular intervention because of being frail, clinical expertise would prevail if the intervention is considered best.

However, if the patient’s prevalence declines the treatment, the preference would dominate over clinical circumstances. This article supports evidence-based nursing practice that has been practiced for several years. It urges nurses to promote more focus on randomized controlled trials as well as systematic views in practice of evidence-based health care. The struggle is on how to make evidence-based nursing healthcare get implemented, and this has now attracted attention at national level.

Conclusion

The information in this article could have assisted a nurse with his/her client by promoting basic mechanisms of various diseases, pathophysiology and learning of skills in order for the nurse to assess, make an effective planning, intervention and proper evaluation. Through evidence-based nursing practice, a nurse who would have read this article would have known the importance of acquiring element regarding clinical assessment as well as management.

Evidence-based nursing practice promotes advanced knowledge through nursing education and expertise obtained through experience. Through evidence-based nursing, a nurse would be equipped with methodologically effective studies related to a particular topic which research has shown to be more effective in healthcare as opposed to results obtained from a single study.

References

DiCenso A. (1998): Implementing evidence-based nursing: some misconceptions : Royal Coll Nursing PP. 43-46.

Sackett I. (2004): Worldviews on Evidence-based Nursing: Blackwell Synergy PP. 67-74.