Kontakt 2013, 15(1):7-13 | DOI: 10.32725/kont.2013.002

Introduction to problems of Evidence Based NursingNursing - Review

Renáta Zeleníková^*, Darja Jarošová

Ostravská univerzita v Ostravě, Lékařská fakulta, Ústav ošetřovatelství a porodní asistence

The target of the contribution presented here is to characterize the evidence based nursing, explain particular steps of the evidence based nursing and describe barriers encountered in the course of the evidence based nursing implementation in clinical practice. The evidence based nursing is a process of reaching clinical decisions by nurses through the mediation of taking advantage of available research results, clinical experience and patient's preferences in context of the tools available. If nurses implement the evidence based nursing in context of taking the care and supporting the organizational culture of the institution, then high quality care is given with achieving the best results for the patient, caregiver as well as system. The process of the evidence based nursing has been commonly considered to include five stages. The most recent publications suggest that the stages employed should be extended and mention seven steps. The process of the evidence based nursing is currently described as a procedure consisting of seven steps: step 0 - interviewing; step 1 - clinical question formulation in PICOT format; step 2 - searching for the best evidence; step 3 - critical assessment of the evidence; step 4 - integration of the evidence, clinical experience, values and preferences of the patient in the course of reaching decisions in clinical practice or change; step 5 - evaluation of results of practical decisions or changes based on evidence; step 6 - dissemination (propagation) of results. In order that nurses might implement the evidence based nursing, it is necessary to respect the following factors: a published adequate research concerning the given problem must be available, the nurses must master the skill concerning the attitude to the problem and critical analyses of the research, and practice must make them possible to implement changes resulting from the evidence based nursing. The main barriers encountered in the implementation of the evidence based nursing are those concerning the research, organization and characteristics of nurses.

Keywords: evidence based nursing; PICOT format; clinical question; barriers

Received: June 21, 2012; Accepted: October 5, 2012; Published: March 15, 2013  Show citation