Evidence-Based Practice at the Point of Care

Guenther, Joanna

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Joanna Guenther, PhD, RN, FNP, BC
School of Nursing, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Marble Falls, TX

Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to describe the importance of evidence based practice to high quality patient care.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to formulate a clinical practice question and describe the steps for finding an answer.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) provides the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) with up to date evidence to treat a patient’s specific health issue. In addition to research and guideline evidence, EBP incorporates the nurse’s expertise, the patient’s preferences/values, and the resources available. The ultimate goals of EBP at the point of care are high quality patient care and improved patient outcomes. Despite increased awareness, EBP continues to meet resistance among providers. Primary barriers include lack of electronic access; lack of available time to critically appraise research reports, and traditional clinical mindsets.

Several health care organizations have emphasized the need to implement EBP. In 2003, the Institute of Medicine report, “Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality,” recommended five core competencies for health care professionals. EBP skills were among the competencies. In response, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) has charged nursing programs to prepare students with skills in EBP. The AACN cites electronic access to research as an essential component in the nursing practice environment.

Based on these AACN guidelines, most APRN programs are preparing the graduate with EBP skills including the use electronic resources such as personal digital assistants and smart phone devices. In contrast, their clinical preceptors, who have been APRNs for years, often rely on tradition rather than EBP for patient care.

Interactive modules were designed to teach essential EBP skills to clinical preceptors. The modules include information on formulating a clinical practice question, performing a literature search, critically analyzing the findings, and incorporating new data into the plan of care. This project is being piloted by a selected group of clinical preceptors. Based on the evaluations from the pilot group, the program will be refined and incorporated on to a university web page from which preceptors, as well as students, can access the EBP modules.

See more of: Poster Session I - Nurse Faculty Mentored Leadership Development Program Invited Posters
See more of: Invited Posters