Q. What is Evidence Based Nursing?

This is a definition from the University of Minnesota’s EBM project: Evidence Based Nursing (EBN) is the process by which nurses make clinical decisions using the best available research evidence, their clinical expertise and patient preferences.

Three areas of research competence important to EBN are:

• interpreting and using research
• evaluating practice
• conducting research

To carry out EBN the following factors must be considered:

• sufficient research must have been published on the specific topic
• the nurse must have skill in accessing and critically analyzing research
• the nurse's practice must allow her/him to implement changes based on EBN

Rather than publishing original research, the objective of journals focusing on evidence based nursing or medicine is to summarize those studies that are valid and clinically useful. A systematic review (e.g. Cochrane or Joanna Briggs Institute) is a method of summarizing the findings of all methodologically sound studies addressing the same research question.

Some Essential Databases for EBN Searching are:

CINAHL - Evidence Based Care Sheets (for the Patient) or Evidence Based Practice limiter (for the clinician)
Cochrane - Systematic Reviews, Clinical Trials, Methods Studies, Economic Evaluations are all EBN/EBP research

EMBASE - European Database, also searches medline. Essential searching for EBP research being done overseas

Joanna Briggs Institute - Systematic Reviews conducted by nurses & allied health
Medline/PubMed - Clinical Practice Guidelines are available under Publication Type