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A Guide to Health Sciences, Medical and Nursing Information

databases, web resources, statistics and print resources for Nursing, health sciences, medicine, bioinformatics

This tutorial will guide you through the steps of Evidence-based Practice from question formulation through the re-evaluation process—as Evidence-based decision making and practice is iterative, meaning that it is ongoing as evidence is continually changing as new studies and guidelines emerge.

What is Evidence-Based Practice?

Evidence-Based Practice is a form of decision making based upon a system that integrates a well-formed question based on witnessed phenomena or problem in healthcare practice, experience, or fieldwork that takes a specific tack in locating and interpreting the appropriateness of evidence from literature in the field and applying it to the situation in conjunction with patient preference and need as well as feasibility for the clinical practice or field location.
The process is designed to provide quality healthcare service and outcomes to populations and patients.

Evidence based [practice] is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research. By individual clinical expertise we mean the proficiency and judgment that individual clinicians acquire through clinical experience and clinical practice.

Sackett, D. L., Rosenberg, W. M. C., Gray, J. A. M., Haynes, R. B., & Richardson, W. S. (1996). Evidence based medicine: What it is and what it isn’t. BMJ, 312(7023), 71–72. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.312.7023.71

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