Nursing

Evidence-based Practice (EBP) is a problem-solving approach to clinical decision-making within a health care organization. It integrates the best available scientific evidence with the best available experiential (patient and practitioner) evidence. EBP considers internal and external influences on practice and encourages critical thinking in the judicious application of such evidence to the care of individual patients, a patient population, or a system (Newhouse, Dearholt, Poe, Pugh, & White, 2007).

Citation: Dearholt, Sandra L., and Dang, Deborah. Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice : Models and Guidelines (2nd Edition).

Additional Guides for EBP:

• Oregon Health and Science University: Evidence Based Practice Toolkit for Nursing
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Intro to Evidence Based Nursing
• Duke University: Introduction to Evidence Based Practice
• American Journal of Nursing: EBP, Step by Step series

 

PICO is an acronym used to describe the four elements of a compelling clinical research question. 

Fill in the blanks with information from your clinical scenario:

THERAPY

In_______________, what is the effect of ________________on _______________ compared with _________________?

Use: Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), meta-analyasis. Also: cohort studies, case-control studies, case series. 

 

PREVENTION

For ___________ does the use of _________________ reduce the future risk of ____________ compared with ______________?

Use: Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), meta-analyasis. Also: prospective studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, case series. 

 

DIAGNOSIS OR DIAGNOSTIC TEST

Are (Is) ________________ more accurate in diagnosing _______________ compared with ____________?

Use: Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs). Also: cohort studies. 

 

PROGNOSIS

Does ____________ influence ______________ in patients who have _____________?

Use: Cohort studies. Also: case-control studies, case series. 

 

ETIOLOGY

Are ______________ who have _______________ at ______________ risk for/of ____________ compared with _____________ with/without______________?

Use: Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), meta-analyasis, cohort studies. Also: case-control studies, case series. 

 

MEANING

How do _______________ diagnosed with _______________ perceive __________________?

Use: Qualitative studies. 

Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2011). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Request a copy through CSU+. 

When it's time to critically appraise the evidence on your topic, consider these various levels of evidence. You can include all different types of evidence in your paper, but be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each methodology. You should use the best available evidence for your topic. There may not always be systematic reviews or critically appraised evidence on your topic, so you may need to rely more on randomized controlled trials.

Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Model and Tools

All tools reprinted with the permission of Johns Hopkins University ©The Johns Hopkins Hospital/The Johns Hopkins University.

©The Johns Hopkins Hospital/The Johns Hopkins University.