Evidence Based Practice (EBP) is a problem-solving approach to clinical decision-making within a health care organization. It integrates the best available scientific evidence with the best available experiential (patient and practitioner) evidence. EBP considers internal and external influences on practice and encourages critical thinking in the judicious application of such evidence to the care of individual patients, a patient population, or a system (Newhouse, Dearholt, Poe, Pugh, & White, 2012).
A commonly used format for creating a clinical question is known as PICO(T), which refers to:
First, you need to define a problem and formulate a question. In the research process, this is the research question or statement. In the clinical setting, 'asking a question' may become part of a research study, a quality improvement project, or lead to evidence based practice.
1. Develop keywords for each of applicable PICO(T) elements of your topic.
2. Start your search by combining 2 or 3 PICO(T) elements.
3. Look for subject headings that represent your keyword and PICO(T) elements.
4. Apply limiters depending on your topic, consider what is the best type of studies.
The following Databases are ideal for finding evidence based literature:
Source: "EBM Pyramid." Digital Image. Eli M. Oboler Library, 27 May 2016.
Once you have found the articles, you need to determine which ones would be worth including in your research. Appraise each article individually by carefully examining their validity, relevance, and value to your topic.
This step involves evaluating the changes needed in clinical practice and applying your clinical expertise along with your research and evidence. Many organizations adopt an EBP model to integrate these findings and to put these changes into action!
Some examples of models include:
