The Importance Of Evidence Based Practice

Introduction Evidence based practice is instilled in many nursing students these days on how patient care should be practiced. For some reason, once school is over, many nurses do not go on to further their learning. They lose the passion to research and take nursing as a job with a paycheck. Maintaining competencies can become a challenge for those who are not passionate about learning and learning new ways of practicing can be a struggle beause they do not care. Nursing has come a long way in the last decade with computer technology and the ever changing patient technology. Nurses who are not on board with the changes can fall behind. The nurses who are infatuated and excited for technological changes always want to participate in research

Evidence based practice has a goal to improve the health outcomes of patients (Stevens, 2013). Evidence based practice takes resources, time, and effort, but the outcomes make them worthwhile (International Council of Nurses, 2012). Nurses are at the forefront of patient care. Nurses have various types of interactions with patients throughout the course of the shift. Nurses detects most unit based problems, therefore, nurses should be part of research. Why is it that nurses do not participate in research? Many nurses feel they are not listened to. National nursing associations (NNA) are a collective voice of nurses at the national level, and are key partners in the transformation to evidence based practice (International Council of Nurses, 2012). Joining an NNA is simple and electronic options are available, depending on the state you reside in (American Nurses Association, 2015) As nurses, we should base our care on the best scientific knowledge that ensures high quality, cost-effective care (International Council of

Technology has been shown to improve efficiency and decrease costs (Powell-Cope, Nelson, & Patterson, 2008). For example before technology, nurses had to rely solely on their five senses to monitor patient status and detect change. Before pulse ox technology, nurses had to identify signs and symptoms of hypoxia, which nurses still do, but some physical signs are often shown too late. Though, with technology like a pulse ox, interventions can begin sooner for the declining patient. The downside is that some nurses rely on the monitor instead of their patient’s