Our primary obligation as nurses based among others on the oaths we take is to our patients and it is upon that obligation that we must measure our success or failures. These focus and obligation are most prominent in evidence-based practice where success is based on making a positive change to a patient, the patient’s family, or the community at large (Warren et al., 2016). My EBP project involves provision of education to diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. This exercise will be conducted by by my fellow nurses and I. As I undertake this project I am not seeking to obtain positive data but rather ensure tangible improvements in the health and life of my patients.
Clinical Significance
The actual improvements in the lives of actual patients, their families, or a community from the perspective of health make up the concept of clinical significance. Clinical significance goes beyond measurable effects to include tangible effects as some measurable effects are not necessarily tangible (Moule, Aveyard, & Goodman, 2016). Based on the above, for an event to have clinical significance, either the patient’s quality of health or quality of life must improve to an extent that a reasonable patient will notice.
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Difference between Clinical and Statistical Significance
Statistical significance is the relationship between two variables that cannot merely be attributed to chance. As opposed to clinical significance, in statistical significance, it is not necessary for the difference to be tangible or discernible as long as it exists. It is, however, when the change being tested makes an actual difference for the patient that it can be referred to as having clinical significance (Moule, Aveyard & Goodman, 2016).
Clinical Significance in my Project
The intended outcome of my project is to ensure that my patients are better informed about how to manage both DM and the vagaries associated with it through processes such as blood sugar checks, Hyper/hypoglycemia, foot care, diet, eye care among others (Crowley et al., 2017, Fort, 2018). Ensuring that patients are better informed is of statistical significance. The real clinical significance comes about when patients take better care of themselves and attain actual health and life improvements. Alongside my fellow nurses, therefore, we shall not just seek to pump information in the minds of patients but seek to ensure that they use that information to their benefit.
Conclusion
It is not enough for me to ensure that patient education regarding DM management is improved through inter alia better educators and increased education time. For my project to be considered effective, I need to ensure that the patients themselves notice actual positive changes in their lives and in the lives of their loved ones. Only then can any EBP Project be considered a success.
References
Crowley, M. J., Edelman, D., Voils, C. I., Maciejewski, M. L., Coffman, C. J., Jeffreys, A. S., ... & Zervakis, J. (2017). Jump-starting shared medical appointments for diabetes with weight management: rationale and design of a randomized controlled trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials , 58 , 1-12
Fort, F. L. (2018). Type 2 Diabetes Management for Geriatric Veterans.
Moule, P., Aveyard, H., & Goodman, M. (2016). Nursing research: An introduction . New York: Sage.
Warren, J. I., McLaughlin, M., Bardsley, J., Eich, J., Esche, C. A., Kropkowski, L., & Risch, S. (2016). The strengths and challenges of implementing EBP in healthcare systems. Worldviews on Evidence Based Nursing , 13 (1), 15-24.
