Clinical research and evidence-based practice (EBP) are two different terms used in the field of nursing. Clinical research is the systematic study of people’s health and illness (Cepero, 2011). EBP on the other hand is a problem-solving approach to clinical practice that incorporates the best evidence from well-designed studies, patient values and preferences, and a clinician's expertise in making decisions about a patient's care (Cepero, 2011). While Clinical research is conducted mainly to generate new knowledge as well as validation of a theoretical knowledge, evidence-based practice majors on the translation of the evidence and its application in decision-making at the clinical setting. Besides, whereas clinical research relies on the knowledge from the philosophy of science in the establishment of the people’s health and illness, the EBP relies on the information from the majority opinion leaders and experts in making patient care decision. Additionally, clinical research results into the development of new knowledge, while EBP results into innovations arising from finding and translation of the best evidence into clinical practice (Cepero, 2011).
Currently, I am working in a private family clinic as a registered nurse. Our clinic has found e vidence-based practice a very crucial part useful in enhancing critical care nursing practice. The EBP has proved to be essential practice in our clinic setting for providing quality care to our patients (Mick, 2017). For instance, if a patient is found to be having symptoms similar to those of asthma, based on the knowledge of genetics, it is advisable that the clinic conducts a research to establish if there is a close relative who suffers from asthma. If there is, then the probability that the current patient is suffering from asthma is high, because the condition is inheritable. This helps the clinic to make the best decision concerning the patient’s medical care. Adopting EBP to our culture has also greatly led to improvement of patient outcomes. For example, if there is an outbreak of a particular disease, the clinic uses the available knowledge of the probability of the disease to be contagious and advises the society to take the necessary preventive measure; which may include vaccination. Besides, EBP has helped patient, family, and healthcare provider with information that leads to their satisfaction. The knowledge available from the EBP is applied in the clinic to reduce costs and the risk of harm by decreasing unnecessary tests and procedures (Mick, 2017).
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EBP has proved to be useful in our facility. It is therefore quite recommendable that the clinic continues to embrace its application as a measure of caring for our patients. The clinic should also endeavor to device ways of improving the use of the EBP. Among these ways is the application of technology in availing more information to the nurses. Technology may prove useful in enhancing the use of EBP in that; it can be used to store the available information on EBP for reference purposes. Devices like computers and mobile phones can be utilized in the storage of big volumes of EBP information. This information can then be used by the nurses for reference purpose whenever needed, thereby improving patient care practices. Technology can also help in making publication of hardcopy EBP information, which is then displayed in public places in form of posters to help equip the society with enough knowledge helpful for their health care. The facility may also organize for the training of its nurses by various experts in order to gain more and more knowledge on the EBP and how to apply it in various settings for the purpose of achieving better patient care practices (Agnes, 2015). In addition, the clinic may also organize for seminars to conduct public education programs for the purpose of creating health awareness. This not only helps the society to be aware of their health status, but also gives the clinic easy time in explaining to its patients about the likelihood of their illness and its causes. Finally, it is recommendable that the facility deploys the use of research in order to obtain necessary information that can help the facility to improve its use of EBP (Agnes, 2015).
References
Agnes, T. (2015). Promoting Evidence-Based Practice through a Research Training Program for Point-of-Care Clinicians. (Online). Downloaded on https://journals.lww.com/jonajournal/FullText/2015/01000/Promoting_Evidence_Based_Practice_Through_a.5.aspx
Cepero, J. (2011). Journal of Neuroscience Nursing: Differences among Quality Improvement, Evidence-Based Practice, and Research. Downloaded on https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21796046
Mick, J. (2017). Call To Action: How To Implement Evidence-Based Nursing Practice. (Online). Retrieved from https://www.nursingcenter.com/cearticle?an=00152193-201704000-00011&Journal_ID=54016&Issue_ID=4077921
