NURS 6052: Essentials of Evidence-Based Practice

Course Introduction

As the healthcare industry continues to face evolving challenges, nurse leaders and other health professionals face problems and decisions that are growing in complexity. These individuals are increasingly exploring the use of existing evidence to support resolutions to these problems.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a problem-solving approach to clinical practice that incorporates evidence from research studies, patient values and preferences, and clinician’s expertise in making decisions about a patient’s care. An understanding of the levels of evidence and EBP is important to nurses because they need to be confident about how much emphasis they should place on a study, report, practice alert, or clinical practice guideline when making decisions about a patient’s care.

Essentials of Evidence-Based Practice examines EBP and the impact it can have on decision making and outcomes. You will examine the role of EBP in support of healthcare organizations’ attempts at optimizing performance. You will also examine research methodologies and the development of clinical inquiries to examine research for evidence. You will practice critical appraisal of research and the synthesis of findings. Additionally, you will explore ways to create conducive cultures in the healthcare organization environment for the promotion of EBP approaches.

Welcome to Essentials of Evidence-Based Practice!

Course Description

Nurses base practice on sound and tested evidence to ensure the safety, high quality, and cost-effectiveness of patient care. This course provides students the opportunity to gain a better understanding of evidence-based practice (EBP) and how it interacts and aligns with research and quality improvement. Students will examine how to use databases to discover evidence and how to apply their knowledge of research methodologies to critically appraise literature. They will also examine opportunities to strengthen their synthesis and integration skills to determine whether a change in practice is needed, based on a body of evidence. Through exploration of implementation, evaluation, and dissemination strategies, students will explore the intricacies of leading and mentoring change within an organization to enhance nursing practice.

Course Learning Outcomes

By the conclusion of this course, you should be able to:

• Analyze key concepts and factors necessary to make evidence-based practice a reality in a healthcare setting
• Apply search strategies using a variety of sources to discover evidence that contributes to decision making using an evidence-based practice approach
• Evaluate fundamental approaches of literature reviews
• Differentiate research designs and methodologies
• Critically appraise evidence in peer-reviewed research
• Synthesize findings from a body of evidence to contribute to evidence-based decision making
• Analyze key considerations in planning, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining evidence-based practice changes to support cost-effective, quality outcomes
• Compare dissemination strategies for the promotion of evidence-based practice

Course Summary:

Developing a Culture of Evidence-Based Practice

The deliberate distribution of knowledge and resources for interventions to a particular public health or clinical practice audience is known as dissemination. The goal is to raise awareness of the related evidence-based interventions. The goal of dissemination techniques is to widely disseminate information and the evidence-based treatments that go with it inside or between practice settings, geographic areas, or social networks of end users like patients and healthcare professionals’ providers (AHRQ 2012). Dissemination components are finding the right audience and adapting the message and media for them. The active, targeted, and tailored distribution of information or interventions via predetermined channels using planned strategies to a particular public health or clinical practice audience is known as the dissemination of health-related information. It has been described as a necessary precondition for adopting and applying knowledge. (Chapman et al., 2020).

The strategies I will utilize will be the news (conventional) media, such as radio, television, and newspapers, can be a valuable resource for connecting with practitioners and decision-makers. The media frequently frames public health issues and sets the agenda by emphasizing noteworthy stories at any given moment. Researchers see the media as one of the primary channels for communicating research findings to decision-makers. Meetings one-on-one is an additional tactic. I will employ one-on-one individual meetings, especially for policy audiences, as they may help exchange thoughts on a given topic. It is common for elected politicians to recall these private encounters and consider the suggestions made during these exchanges. However, due to time constraints, this solution may not be viable or practical. Building a good working rapport with an elected official’s legislative staffer(s) is frequently crucial when getting ready for an encounter with them. These people often significantly impact how a selected person does their business and sets their priorities (Brownson et al., 2018).

One of the main obstacles to using the news media is that it is a business that depends primarily on advertising revenue and may occasionally want to avoid upsetting its sponsors. As a result, opinions that the media is politically biased or that agendas drive it may impact how open and responsive an audience is to the published news. The fact that most legislative bodies meet for set periods and have highly organized calendars that leave little room for flexibility makes one-on-one meetings problematic (Brownson et al., 2018), In conclusion, Dissemination doesn’t just stop once your guidelines are released to your audiences — it extends to future iterations or revised materials. It is your responsibility to disseminate any updates, and it is essential to inform people when the guideline is rescinded (AHRQ 2012).

References

AHRQ (2012). Evidence-based Practice Center Systematic Review Protocol: Communication and Dissemination Strategies to Facilitate the Use of Health and Health Care Evidence. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Brownson, R. C., Eyler, A. A., Harris, J. K., Moore, J. B., & Tabak, R. G. (2018). Getting the word out: New approaches for disseminating public health science. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, 24(2), 102–111. https://doi.org/10.1097/phh.0000000000000673

Links to an external site.

Chapman, E., Haby, M. M., Toma, T. S., De Bortoli, M. C., Illanes, E., Oliveros, M. J., & Barreto, J. (2020). Knowledge translation strategies for dissemination with a focus on healthcare recipients: an overview of systematic reviews. Implementation Science, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13012-020-0974-3