Evidence-Based Practice
Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a problem solving approach to clinical practice and decision making within healthcare. EBP integrates a systematic search for and critical appraisal of the most relevant evidence to answer a clinical question, personal clinical expertise, and patient preferences and values (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2014). The EBP process allows the practitioner to assess research, clinical guidelines, and other information resources based on high quality findings and apply the results to practice.
Source: AMSN, Evidence-Based Practice
The following are the basic key concepts of evidence-based practice:
- Ask a clinical question
- Search the published literature
- Appraise the articles
- Integrate the findings into your practice
- Evaluate the results
- Disseminate (share) your findings
Additional resources for evidence-based practice:
- Evidence-Based Medicine ToolsEBM tools for the five stages of Evidence-Based Medicine, from the University of Oxford
- Evidence-Based Practice Toolkit for NursingFrom Oregon Health & Science University
- Evidence-Based Practice TutorialThis self-guided tutorial from Duke University Medical Center Library provides an introduction to EBP
