Blog

Sources of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing

Sources of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing Evidence and its sources are very important in evidence-based practice in nursing and healthcare. Accordingly, evidence is usually divided into different levels. These levels are:   1. LEVEL A This is the strongest level of evidence. It is founded on the most reliable sources of evidence-based practice in nursing. As shown in evidence based practice nursing examples, such sources should encompass:   1. Randomized control trials: These entail the classic study design in scientific studies. In such studies, selection of study subject is random. Further, assignment of these subjects to groups is random. Within these groups, the subjects are put under experimental conditions or interventions that are rigorously controlled.   2. Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials:  This is also another of the reliable Level A sources of evidence-based practice in nursing. Systematic reviews would entail critical analysis of existing evidence on a specific clinical question. On the other hand, a meta-analysis would encompass studies using statistical approaches to put together and analyze data from randomized control trials.   3. Clinical practice guidelines: The guidelines are based on randomized control trials’ systematic reviews and therefore provided best available evidence.   2. LEVEL B This encompasses the second most reliable sources of evidence-based practice in nursing. Evidence based practice nursing examples of such evidence include:   1. Non-randomized well-designed control trials: These sources of evidence-based practice in nursing involve studies without random selection of research subjects in the experimental and control groups. Such studies suffer weak internal validity and may therefore contain unintentional or intentional sample enrollment bias.   2. Case-controlled study: This source is also often used in evidence-based practice in nursing and healthcare. It entails an observational approach where subjects with an outcome or a disease are compared with other subjects without the outcome or disease.   3. Clinical cohort study: This source involves an examination of subject groups with common characteristics or experiences in exposure and then comparing the outcomes between those exposed and the non-exposed. Evidence based practice nursing examples in this source category may for instance look at development of child diabetes in 10 year olds among those on school food program and those not on the program.   4. Epidemiological study: These studies observe subjects over a lengthy time frame to establish the likelihood or risk of developing a particular disease. They may include prospective studies on a population or retrospective database searches.   5. Uncontrolled study: These sources are also used in evidence-based practice in nursing and healthcare. They do not in any way control interventions or participant selection and may usually use convenience sampling.   6. Qualitative or quantitative study: A qualitative study would entail a descriptive approach that is word-based such as behaviors, symptoms, and group dynamics and culture. Differently, a quantitative study would use statistical approaches to establish numerical relationships.   3. LEVEL C This is also among the categories of sources of evidence-based practice in nursing. Sources under this category include:   1. Meta-synthesis: This entails a systematic review synthesizing qualitative studies’ findings through an interpretive technique aimed at adopting small study findings like case studies into clinical application.   2. Consensus viewpoint and expert opinion: Consensus viewpoint entails a study with an agreement among clinical experts in a review panel on particular practices. Expert opinion on the other hand encompasses agreement among a review panel’s majority clinical experts.   4. LEVEL ML Evidence based practice nursing examples under this category include recommendations based on evidence and clinical practice guidelines. These examples should be obtained from above one evidence level as defined by the rating system.  


Order Now

You are one step closer to getting a quality paper

Get 20% discount on your first order, enjoy regular coupons from Nursing Research Lab when you sign up with us

Start Now