The Importance Of The Nursing Theory Gap

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.

The following literature will define the term, “evidence informed practice”. It will discuss the benefits and limitations of integrating evidence informed practice in nursing. It will include information about how nurses can overcome these barriers. It will also illustrate the importance of utilising evidence informed practice to enhance the quality of service delivered within the healthcare profession.

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).

In this 21st century, health care is advancing remarkably and achieving various results through research. Research is vital to bring about new inventions, techniques and improvements and create a new body of knowledge. In nursing, research helps to bring about improvements in current practice, knowledge, patient outcomes as well as to create new polices and upgrade the existing ones. For example, a “re-challenge protocol” was created by the researchers to reduce the drug reactions caused by two chemotherapeutic agents. Likewise, numerous research is conducted to improve scientific knowledge in various fields of science. One such knowledge in the field of science is the nursing knowledge.

Nursing care is focused on the assessment, nursing diagnoses, planning, implementation, and evaluation of patients. This nursing process can also be implemented in aspects outside of nursing and on the nursing field as a collective group. The nursing role is evolving, following the process the outcomes have to be evaluated and put into perspective. Research is being completed the conclusions are all the same, the higher education of nursing care the better the patient outcomes.

Family Nurse Practitioner, as an advanced practice nurse has to understand the importance of evidence-based practice in the delivery of patient care. The culture of nursing is evolving and changing giving advanced practice nurses more authority to advocate and remain proactive in the health care field. Family nurse practitioners should actively engage in the nursing research or advocate for bringing new evidence based practice into their clinical sites to improve the quality of patient care, promoting health and decreasing morbidity and mortality

Evidence Based Practice Nursing is the utilization by nurses of Evidence Based Research findings that, according to Houser (2012), steer the nurse toward integration of clinical expert opinion and experience with an unbiased exhaustive review of the best scientific evidence professional nursing care literature can provide while incorporating patient values and preferences. Evidence Based Practice Nursing entails adopting a systematic critical thinking decision making process guided by a deliberate and defined chosen Evidence Based Nursing model path that involves searching,

This paper will discuss how evidence based practice effects nursing practice and how nurses can apply what they learn to their practice. Evidence based practice is a great way to improve the quality of care we provide. “Evidence based practice means using the best available research findings to make clinical decisions that are most effective and beneficial for patients” (Chitty & Black, 2011, p.258). By allowing nurses to participate in research and development, we are able to see firsthand how effective our intervention can be. Nurses run into all kinds of problems on a daily basis and they are able to share their experience and expertise to help develop a better way to solve a problem.

Evidence based practice, “involves integrating the best available research evidence with professional expertise while also taking account of patient preferences the patients state setting and circumstance and health care resources” (Gerrish, K. Lathlean, J, 2015). As the health care profession constantly changes, then it is vital that all evidence based practice is kept up to date with current information and research, relating to nursing practice. Always assuring that the patients need are taken into consideration (Sackett et al, 1996).

The impact of evidence based practice has been brought into nursing through education, practice, and science over the last decade. Evidence based practice provides quality care to patients that is effective, safe, and efficient. Evidence based practice promises moving care to a high level of producing the intended health outcome for the patients. “EBP is aimed at hardwiring current knowledge into common care decisions to improve care processes and patient outcomes” (Stevens, 2013). EBP empowers nurses and expands their skills by using the best available evidence to guide nursing care and patient outcomes.

Over the last several years, nurses have been facing critical challenges. This is because there is a shortage of qualified individuals inside many facilities. At the same time, they are expected to serve a variety of roles in order to address the needs of stakeholders. To fully understand what is occurring requires focusing on the use of evidence based practices inside a clinical setting and formulating strategies for overcoming barriers to them. Together, these elements will highlight the underlying challenges and how they can be addressed in the long term. (Lundry, 2009)

Although the American Association of Colleges of Nursing clearly defined the role of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in 2004, some confusion about the academic programs still exist. The role of both the DNP and PhD-prepared individuals is to improve the quality of health care and the health of population through the use of the best evidence when assisting them in making decisions about treatment options. Melnyk, B. M. (2013). According to the national leaders in major healthcare fields, mentioned a gap between research and practice and the importance to apply research findings and engage in evidence-based practice. In order to translate this knowledge, the clinician must understand the healthcare delivery in order to help narrow the research-to-practice gap and transform health care. DNP-prepared nurses are trained to reduce the research-to-practice gap. Because most nurse lack knowledge to critically appraise research studies and the skills to effectively implement evidence-based practice (EBP) in their clinical settings.

In nursing, evidence-based practice relates to the preferential usage of interventions for which qualitative and empiric research has rendered evidence of substantial efficacy for certain issues in nursing care. The collection, analysis, and integration of crucial, relevant, and pertinent research-driven, patient-reported, and nurse-observed evidences are promoted by evidence-based practice. Another instance or illustration of evidence-based practice is the systematic study of care theories and their implementation to patients. Hence, these attempts act upon against rationalizing of nursing practice on shaky knowledge—solely on the basis of other nurses’ experience—devoid of scientific evidence on which nursing practice can be established.

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,