Essay about Nursing research

Providing the best care to each patient starts with providing the proper amount of staff members to each unit. Looking at the needs of different units not only allows administration to see areas for improvement, but also areas that are being handled correctly. Utilizing the indicators provided by The Joint Commission, 4 East, a pediatric medical/surgical floor, has a high rate of falls and nosocomial pressure ulcers that appears to be related to the increase overtime nurses have been working for that floor (Nightingale, 2010). Research has shown increases in adverse events have been related to nurses working over 40 hours a week (Bae, 2012).

Evidence-Base practice (EBP) is defined as: “based on problem identified from the practitioner’s area of practice; a combining of best evidence and professional expertise and an integration of this into current practice; about ensuring patients receive quality care, being part of quality improvement processes; about collaboration and requiring a team approach” (French, 1999). Scott and Mcsherry (2008) supported the French’s assertion, proposing the key elements of EBP are that it is a theory-driven process, which involves the use, evaluation and application of research; identification of best evidence; evaluation of care; problem solving; decision-making; clinical expertise; and requires patient involvement. Evidence-based practice is made of evidence, clinical expertise, patient preference, the context of care (Barker, 2013). In brief, evidence-based practice is the parameter in the nursing practice that it requires that the nurses gather and use clinical evidence to make decision for the patients so that in the nursing process they can deliver the quality of care for the patients (Ellis, 2013). In the other words, in the nursing practice all the nursing procedures performed by the clinical evidence supported.

As a provider of care, professional nurses depend on research, theories, and evidence based practice to guide the care they provide to patients. Nurses deliver care to their patients based on information they have learned through many years of school and training. Training for nurses and other providers of care is founded on theories, research, and evidence based practice in the healthcare field. Theories, research, and evidence based practice are all important for providing care to patients and each can be used in a different manner depending on the situation. Clinicians often use research based evidence to design and implement care that is high-quality and cost effective for patients. Evidence based practice can be used to provide care to patients in a steadily changing clinical environment. (PDF page 8-9). Nursing theories are frequently used as frameworks for establishing nursing care interventions and assessing

Evidence based practice is an integral part of nursing care. According to the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, evidence based practice is defined as, “the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about patient care.” (AMSN) The use of evidence based practice has drastically improved patient outcomes, increased quality and safety of healthcare, and reduced costs for facilities. (Melnyk, 2016) In this paper I will provide the history of evidence based practice, how it has already been incorporated and impacted healthcare, and why it is important to nursing and healthcare as a whole.

Nursing education is constantly evolving as new techniques are introduced within the medical profession. Thus, it is imperative nurses are kept updated, and continuously learning new methods to enhance and improve patient care. Over the last 150 years there has been a drastic change in nursing`s participation in research. Nursing research advanced initially from the investigations made by Nightingale in the nineteenth century of nursing education during the 1930`s. This further progressed to the research of nursing roles in 1950s following on to the 1990s where nurses began to focus on clinical problems and finding solutions to these problems which had a major impact within the nursing profession. As of today many health professionals are focusing on clinical research which in turn has helped to establish an evidence informed practice for nurses. (Burns and Grove 2003)

Keywords: Clinical Supervision Patient Safety Quality of Care Nurses Risk of Fall Morse Fall Scale

Evidence-based practice is the practice of making clinical decisions based off the best available research evidence coupled with the nurse’s own expertise, while also taking into account, the patient’s assessments and own personal preferences. This use of research has proven effective at providing better outcomes and lower healthcare costs, yet there are several barriers, such as time, education, and support, which prevent nurses from consistently using evidence-based practice (AJN, 2012). The top three barriers to the use of evidence-based practice are lack of time, education, and support in implementing new practices and using them consistently.

In the healthcare system, Core Measure sets are used to measure quality care. It consists of pneumonia, heart attack, immunizations, emergency department, sepsis, for infection prevention, and others. Evidence-based treatments are used to prevent occurrences using structures, processes, and outcomes. In nursing, they have adopted a similar method of performance measures, known as nursing-sensitive indicators. It includes falls, and this indicator is implemented in each unit of the hospital and managed by the manager and educator along with others like CAUTI and CALBSI. According to the American Hospital Association article (2015) “Falls with Injury,” Patient falls-an unplanned descent to the floor with or without injury to the patient affects between 700,000 and 1,000,000 patients each year.”

Itroduction: Evidence-based practice is an approach to medicine that uses scientific evidence to determine the best practice (Beyea & Slattery, 2006). As nurses perform their daily tasks they must continually ask themselves, “What is the evidence for this intervention?”. Nurses are well positioned to question current nursing practices and use evidence to make care more effective. In order to improve patients’ outcomes it is the responsibility of the nurse to transition evidence-based practice into the norm, through application of daily practice (Flynn Makic, Rauen, Watson & Will Poteet, 2014). Continual evaluation of current practice must be performed to ensure the use of evidence-based practice opposed to practice based upon tradition. The implementation of evidence-based practice standardizes healthcare practices and diminishes groundless variations within care. These variations lead to the production of uncertain health outcomes (Stevens, 2013).

Over the course of decades medical treatment has advanced causing an increase in the wellness of patient clinical outcomes. A large portion of the improvement is due to the vital role nurses play in the delivery of safe and quality care to their patients. For many years different methods of treating patients have evolved due to the continued research for the best practice. Nurses, researchers and people with questions have always tried to find better and efficient solutions to treat their patients detailing the best possible evidence-based practice. Evidence-based practice is an important tool to use for clinical decision making however one must understand it first. Interpreting Evidence-based practice allows nurses to comprehend the steps to determine if new evidence is needed and realize there are some benefits to utilizing up to date research and obstacles that may impeded the research into practice. .

Within this essay Evidence based Practice will be identified and the significant effect it has on the nursing profession, barriers will also be explored in the implementation of Evidence Based Practice.

Patients being admitted to hospitals today have multiple co-morbidities and are on a number of medications making them a high risk for falls. Having an awareness of a patients diagnoses, pertinent history and current medications is key in establishing an appropriate plan of care. Staffing shortages can lead to omission of tasks such as a complete admission history and falls risk assessment. As with any assignment, regardless of the amount of patients one is caring for, prioritization needs to be utilized when completing tasks and making care decisions. “Further work must be done to assist nurses in completing necessary tasks…which may or may not mean additional staff members” (Kalisch, Tschannen & Lee, 2012, p. 11). Developing strategies such as computerized reminders and checklists are necessary to ensure complete and appropriate nursing care is delivered. (Kalisch, Tschannen & Lee, 2012, p. 11)

The findings from good, current, reliable, valid or trustworthy research are the basis for maintaining high standards of care and all nurses must practice based on the most up to date evidence (NMC 2008). It is now an important part of nursing to actively participate in research and evidence based practice in order to continually improve the standard of the health care system. This process ensures that nurses are kept up to date with relevant information needed to provide the most effective care for patients.

Houser, J. (2012). Nursing research: reading, using, and creating evidence. (2nd ed.). Boston: Jones & Bartlett.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) in nursing means making decisions about patient care on the basis of best, current, standardized practice and guidelines. According to an article, written by Dr. Kathleen Stevens, the development of evidence-based practice (EBP) is fueled by the increasing public and professional demand for accountability in safety and quality improvement in health care (Stevens, 2013). The author also mentioned in her article that the intended effect of EBP is to standardize healthcare practices to science and best evidence and to reduce illogical variation in care,