Integration of Evidence-Based Practice into Professional Nursing Practice
Sandra Sparks
Chamberlain College of Nursing
NR 351: Transitions to Professional Nursing Fall 2010

Introduction During the 1980’s, the term “evidence-based” medicine surfaced to describe the approach that used scientific evidence to determine the best practice. Evidence-based practice is a process that entails reviewing and instilling the most reliable and updated research in patient care. The goal of evidence-based practice is to provide the highest quality care while being most cost efficient. It is a process based on the accumulation, interpretation, and integration of derived evidence. …show more content…
Evidence-based practice is a detailed formal approach to enhancing this process and its efficiency. Evidence-based practice facilitates the nursing process by meeting the needs of patients and delivering care that is effective, efficient, patient centered, and timely ("Institute of Medicine", 2001). Nurses are central to patient care and have a strong incentive to use evidence and collaboration to support their decisions. Nursing as a profession have made a strong contribution to the collective understanding of how best to support decision making based on the best available evidence. The very nature of nursing practice compels nurses to participate in an active role in advancing best practices inpatient care. Nurses serve instrumental roles in ensuring and providing evidence-based practice. They must continually ask the questions, “What is the evidence for this intervention?” or “How do we administer the best practice?” and “Are these the best achievable outcomes for the patient, family, and nurse?” Nurses are also well positioned to work with other members of the healthcare team to indentify clinical problems and use existing evidence to improve practice. Numerous opportunities are available for nurses to question current nursing practices and use evidence to make care more effective. The American Nurses Association significantly revised the Scope and Standards for Nursing practice in 2004, making substantive changes to references