Information Poster And Literature Matrix on Evidence-Based Practice (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

Reflection On The EBP Process

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Patient safety is an issue of concern for every medical institution. It is part of what is used to rate the quality of healthcare provided by an institution [1]. Many other risks to patient safety exist, such as negligence, falls etc., healthcare associated illnesses are probably the most significant of all these risks. HAIs are very costly to treat and it is estimated that they cost the US about 8.9 billion every year.[2] Among them are the device-related infections. It is the prevention of these that this reflection paper looks at.
Having identified the measures to be used in preventing the incidence of HAIs in hospitals including the set guidelines and the newer evidence based methods emanating from research, these prevention measures would be useless if there were no corresponding evidence based strategies to implement them. [3] To successfully implement the recommended guidelines, it would require one to identify all the potential barriers and tailor the strategy to be used around these barriers. [4] A good implementation strategy translates the results and ideas suggested by research into daily practices in the hospital.
The barriers to implementation of the recommendations are many in a normal hospital setting. One of them is the lack of awareness of the proposed guidelines or practices by the clinicians. This may be accompanied by a wrong attitude towards the recommendation by the medical practitioner. The attitude of the practitioner is usually informed by his/her lack of agreement with the recommendations, self-efficacy, outcome expectancy and their skills. [3] Other barriers would be organizational constraints which mostly relate to the dedication of the management of the hospital to implement the new recommendations without affecting the normal running of the hospital. [4] The recommendations may also have a huge financial implication on the hospital which is a big barrier to their implementation in itself. However, even with al these barriers some factors would still encourage the implementation of these recommendations. One of these enablers is the state regulations set to govern HAIs in hospitals. It would be in the best interest of the hospital to adopt the recommendations that have been proven to reduce HAIs so as to take advantage of set incentives such as increased funding.
A good implementation strategy involves trying to overcome all the barriers. The strategy must address each of the barriers successfully. It would therefore be wise to employ a structured strategy/ [5] To overcome the lack of awareness by medical practitioners, there must be continuous medical education and proper dissemination of the guidelines to each and every medical practitioner working in the hospital. [6] The hospital can also come up with checklists for use by the medical personnel as they perform their duties using the new recommendations. [4] To address the issue of attitude towards the new recommendations, the implementation strategy should be implemented after consulting all the medical personnel or their representatives. [7] There should also be an individualized feedback mechanism and audit of each of the practitioners.
An effective implementation strategy should allow enough time for the whole system of the hospital to adjust to the new recommendations. [3] It is the hurried recommendations that usually face a lot of opposition. As for the barriers in the organizational constraints, the implementation strategy should ensure there is a universal change in the provision of care in the hospital through the standardization of processes and procedures used. The management should also be proactive to ensure success of the recommendations by the medical practitioners. All these factors together would make up a good implementation strategy of the said recommendations in a hospital setting.
As a nurse it is highly required that it is required by both the public and your profession to offer safe and quality healthcare to patients. [8] Employing evidence-based practice (EBP) is one of the core ways of meeting this requirement. Evidence based practice is defined as the vigilant employment of current best evidence in making decisions about patient care. [9] The EBP process requires that the nurse employs not only their clinical expertise but also relevant evidence searched from credible sources and appraised.
The EBP process usually begins with the arising of a question or a query which need a solution. The medical practitioner then finds the solution to this problem which is supported by the best evidence then appraises this evidence to confirm its validity, impact and applicability to the issue at hand. [9] This is then followed by integrating the results with their own critical expertise and the preferences of the patient. In my work with the informational poster, this was basically the same procedure that was followed. Creating the informational poster offerered a chance to practice the EBP process practically. You have to start with coming up with the question, which then forms the basis for the rest of the process. This is followed by looking for information with well supported evidence to use in answering the clinical question at hand. The information gotten was then appraised to judge its relevance.
This whole process ensured that the informational poster only carried that information which is supported by evidence hence it is guaranteed to be accurate in its solution of the clinical question raised. The need for accuracy gets even bigger when human life is involved like in the case of nurses offering healthcare services. It is during the process of performing one’s duties as a nurse that application of the EBP process is required the most
Knowledge of application of the EBP process is very useful for a registered nurse. The nursing world has adopted the EBP process as the chosen way of making decisions while handling a patient. [10] This ensures that the nurse makes a correct decision depending on the prevailing conditions at the time including the preferences of the patient. Proper application of the EBP process can mean the difference between life and death. It is through EBP that the nurse can make diagnosis, identify patient problems and effectively find a way to solve the issues. [11]
The EBP process is used in most modern environments especially for quality improvement in hospitals and in the transfer of knowledge. It is therefore an in disposable skill for any nurse performing his or her duties. The EBP process helps reduce cases of misdiagnosis and helps in improving the outcomes of the healthcare process. [12] This is usually through enabling the nurse to combine the gotten best practice information with their clinical expertise and the preferences of the patient to offer the best healthcare possible equitably to all patients. [13]
In conclusion, the EBP process was a revolutionary development in the medical field. Its application has resulted in major positive changes in the efficacy of healthcare services and the patient satisfaction with the healthcare offered. ...