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Testimony

Evidence-Based Practice

We need to have a talk about evidence-based practice. This is a term that gets tossed around frequently, but understanding exactly what constitutes evidence-based practice (EBP) may leave folks feeling a bit hazy. This becomes a problem for both patient care (e.g. changing practice based on one article or lecture at a conference) AND testimony (e.g. discussing that term in court without having a handle on it’s actual meaning). It’s okay if you aren’t 100% clear on what EBP is as it pertains to nursing, but embrace this as an opportunity to start learning more.

Here’s what EBP is not:

  • Practice you believe to be the most innovative
  • Practice based solely on a single study

There are some great resources that pertain specifically to EBP in nursing; these ones are my favorite:

Oregon Health and Science University’s EBP Toolkit for Nursing: This interactive, updated and well-linked online toolkit walks nurses through the process of EBP, based on the Johns Hopkins Model (the only drawback with the site is that some of the links are protected).

Evidence-BasedPractice, Step by Step (American Journal of Nursing): This is a collection of 12 articles (most of which are free) on EBP. There are even CEs attached to a couple of the articles, if you’re so inclined.

And just because you know I love me a journal club: Implementing and Sustaining EBP Through a Nursing Journal Club (abstract)

Other resources on this topic that you like?