3 years ago
What exactly sets evidence based practice apart from any other practice?
I have been looking for definitive answers to this question to help me teach research skills to nursing students but am only getting things that allude to general differences and don't specifically say "EPB does X and uses Y and normal practice does not."
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M$1 Answer
This may seem oversimplified, but I'd say EBP is practice that is based on evidence. In contrast, normal nursing practice can be based on any number of things including tradition ("I don't know why. We've just always done it that way."), ritual, untested opinions, anecdote, etc.
A classic example of the juxtaposition is how we keep peripheral IV's from clotting. For years, nurses kept IV's full of heparin when not running a drip to keep the IV from clotting. Then someone thought, "Is this really necessary? Maybe something else would work just as well without the risks of injecting my patients with heparin accidentally." So someone did a study and gathered data and that interpreted data indicated that flushing with normal saline worked just as well as heparin to keep IV's functional. That study was replicated enough times that the nursing community decided to change our normal practice because of the new evidence.
Our current "normal" nursing practice of maintaining IV's by flushing with normal saline is Evidence-Based. We do it that way because the EVIDENCE indicates that this is the best way to do it, so we BASE our PRACTICE on the EVIDENCE. Our former normal practice of using heparin was not based on evidence but on someone's idea that this was surely the best or only way to do it.
Many of our "normal" nursing practices have been based on tradition, ritual, etc. However, more and more nurses are realizing that we, the bedside nurses, can test our practice by gathering evidence ourselves in the form of Nursing Research or even Quality Improvement projects. Basing our practice on solid evidence ensures that we are doing the most we can to ensure that our patients get positive outcomes.
If this doesn't answer your question, feel free to direct question me or reply to my answer and I can put you in touch with folks who can most assuredly answer you. I'm on the Nursing Research Council at my hospital and we just last week had our 15th annual Nursing Research Conference so I'm chock full of new info & contacts. :)
A classic example of the juxtaposition is how we keep peripheral IV's from clotting. For years, nurses kept IV's full of heparin when not running a drip to keep the IV from clotting. Then someone thought, "Is this really necessary? Maybe something else would work just as well without the risks of injecting my patients with heparin accidentally." So someone did a study and gathered data and that interpreted data indicated that flushing with normal saline worked just as well as heparin to keep IV's functional. That study was replicated enough times that the nursing community decided to change our normal practice because of the new evidence.
Our current "normal" nursing practice of maintaining IV's by flushing with normal saline is Evidence-Based. We do it that way because the EVIDENCE indicates that this is the best way to do it, so we BASE our PRACTICE on the EVIDENCE. Our former normal practice of using heparin was not based on evidence but on someone's idea that this was surely the best or only way to do it.
Many of our "normal" nursing practices have been based on tradition, ritual, etc. However, more and more nurses are realizing that we, the bedside nurses, can test our practice by gathering evidence ourselves in the form of Nursing Research or even Quality Improvement projects. Basing our practice on solid evidence ensures that we are doing the most we can to ensure that our patients get positive outcomes.
If this doesn't answer your question, feel free to direct question me or reply to my answer and I can put you in touch with folks who can most assuredly answer you. I'm on the Nursing Research Council at my hospital and we just last week had our 15th annual Nursing Research Conference so I'm chock full of new info & contacts. :)
source(s):
I'm sure you are familiar with the Iowa Model for EBP. Here's the University of Iowa's EBP website in case it would be a good starting point for this or another search:
http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/nursing/rqom/evidencebasedpractice/iowamo...
I'm sure you are familiar with the Iowa Model for EBP. Here's the University of Iowa's EBP website in case it would be a good starting point for this or another search:
http://www.uihealthcare.com/depts/nursing/rqom/evidencebasedpractice/iowamo...
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
I was going to say the same thing. It seems like common sense. Obstetrics is the least evidence-based discipline out there, which has won it several Wooden Spoon Awards.