Evidence Based Practice – Vital Tool for Nursing

Introduction

It is essential to appreciate the fact that evidence-based practice is a vital tool for nursing due to the numerous advantages that it provides. One must be cognizant of the fact that EBP has been considered as a revolutionary tool in the manner in which nursing guidelines are followed. Evidence-based practice has proven to have some advantages to patients who are under the care of nurses. Research has shown that there has been a significant increase in patient outcomes, quality life as well as an increase in patient safety (Schultz, 2009). In the past, patients were just receiving healthcare without proper scrutiny of making relevant decisions using evidence at hand. Today, patients have been progressively transformed into healthcare consumers. Exposure has made them demand increased safety and better treatment. EBP has made a lot of milestones when it comes to striving to standardize practices which stand a chance of delivering more outcomes.

One of the most common EBP models is Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model (Freshwater & Rolfe, 2012). This model takes a problem-solving approach that revolves around decision-making processes which are accompanied by user-friendly tools meant to guide a group or individuals. In addition to that, this model has been specially designed to meet the needs of the practicing nurse. The second model, in this case, is the Ace Star Model of Knowledge Transformation. This model introduces five steps that can be used by a healthcare professional to follow when evaluating an evidence-based practice. These steps revolve around research, summarizing, translating and practicing clinical applications.

EBP has witnessed some obstacles that hinder its implementation. One of the barriers is a slow reception from nurses. Many nurses are still glued to their traditional models of practicing nursing skills, something that has proven to be disastrous to EBP implementation. Another barrier is lack of a clear strategy on how this can be implemented.