28 Dec As your EBP skills grow,

NURS6052/NURS5052/NRSE6052 Essent of Evidence

Week 1 Discussion

Where in the World Is Evidence-Based Practice?

March 21, 2010, was not EBP’s date of birth, but it may be the date the approach “grew up” and left home to take on the world.

When the Affordable Care Act was passed, it came with a requirement of empirical evidence. Research on EBP increased significantly. Application of EBP spread to allied health professions, education, healthcare technology, and more. Health organizations began to adopt and promote EBP.

In this Discussion, you will consider this adoption. You will examine healthcare organization websites and analyze to what extent these organizations use EBP.

To Prepare:

Review the Resources and reflect on the definition and goal of EBP.

Choose a professional healthcare organization’s website (e.g., a reimbursing body, an accredited body, or a national initiative).

Explore the website to determine where and to what extent EBP is evident.

NURS6052/NURS5052/NRSE6052 Essent of Evidence

Week 4 Discussion

Searching Databases

When you decide to purchase a new car, you first decide what is important to you. If mileage and dependability are the important factors, you will search for data focused more on these factors and less on color options and sound systems.

The same holds true when searching for research evidence to guide your clinical inquiry and professional decisions. Developing a formula for an answerable, researchable question that addresses your need will make the search process much more effective. One such formula is the PICO(T) format.

In this Discussion, you will transform a clinical inquiry into a searchable question in PICO(T) format, so you can search the electronic databases more effectively and efficiently. You will share this PICO(T) question and examine strategies you might use to increase the rigor and effectiveness of a database search on your PICO(T) question.

To Prepare:

Review the materials offering guidance on using databases, performing keyword searches, and developing PICO(T) questions provided in the Resources.

Review the Resources for guidance and develop a PICO(T) question of interest to you for further study.

NURS6052/NURS5052/NRSE6052 Essent of Evidence

Week 8 Discussion

Patient Preferences and Decision Making

Changes in culture and technology have resulted in patient populations that are often well informed and educated, even before consulting or considering a healthcare need delivered by a health professional. Fueled by this, health professionals are increasingly involving patients in treatment decisions. However, this often comes with challenges, as illnesses and treatments can become complex.

What has your experience been with patient involvement in treatment or healthcare decisions?

In this Discussion, you will share your experiences and consider the impact of patient involvement (or lack of involvement). You will also consider the use of a patient decision aid to inform best practices for patient care and healthcare decision making.

To Prepare:

Review the Resources and reflect on a time when you experienced a patient being brought into (or not being brought into) a decision regarding their treatment plan.

Review the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute’s Decision Aids Inventory at https://decisionaid.ohri.ca/.

Choose “For Specific Conditions,” then Browse an alphabetical listing of decision aids by health topic.

NOTE: To ensure compliance with HIPAA rules, please DO NOT use the patient’s real name or any information that might identify the patient or organization/practice.

NURS6052/NURS5052/NRSE6052 Essent of Evidence

Week 10 Discussion

Developing a Culture of Evidence-Based Practice

As your EBP skills grow, you may be called upon to share your expertise with others. While EBP practice is often conducted with unique outcomes in mind, EBP practitioners who share their results can both add to the general body of knowledge and serve as an advocate for the application of EBP.

In this Discussion, you will explore strategies for disseminating EBP within your organization, community, or industry.

To Prepare:

Review the Resources and reflect on the various strategies presented throughout the course that may be helpful in disseminating effective and widely cited EBP.

This may include: unit-level or organizational-level presentations, poster presentations, and podium presentations at organizational, local, regional, state, and national levels, as well as publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Reflect on which type of dissemination strategy you might use to communicate EBP.