NURS 340
Community Nursing
What is Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)?
Let's dissect the phrase:
Evidence-Based = Substantiated data as foundation
Practice = Utilizing the knowledge in the clinical setting
Figuring out the meaning of Evidence-Based Practice is fairly simple, but in order to find substantiated data to put into clinical practice, it is essential to use the proper resources. Proper resources would include:
- Systematic Reviews: are reviews "of a clearly formulated question that uses systematic and explicit methods to identify, select and critically appraise relevant research, and to collect and analyze data from the studies that are included in the review. Statistical methods (meta-analysis) may or may not be used to analyze and summarize the results of the included studies (U S Department of Veterans Affairs Glossary of Technology Assessment Terms)"
- Meta-analyses: are "the use of statistical techniques in a systematic review to integrate the results of included studies. Sometimes used as a synonym for systematic reviews, where the review includes meta-analysis (U S Department of Veterans Affairs Glossary of Technology Assessment Terms)"
- Consensus Statements/Guidelines: Consider using the National Guidelines Clearing House made available through U. S. Government agencies.
- Articles from journals specializing in evidence-based medicine: When looking at these articles, there is a hierarchy related to the publication type:
- *Randomized Controlled Trial - Depending on the sample size and overall study design, this may provide as weighty evidence as a systematic review.
- Clinical Trial
- Review
- Case Study: Least preferred because provides evidence from only single case (but with rare conditions may be only info. available).
Evidence-Based Practice Websites/Article:
EBM Guidebook from the University of California, Irvine
National Guidelines Clearing House
Florida State University EBM Tutorial
University of Minnesota Guide on Evidence Based Nursing
University of North Carolina Evidence Based Medicine Tutorial
Systematic Review Made Simple for Nurses
Starting your Research
You may want to start out your research by finding background information.
Reference Books are Excellent Sources of Background Information. Print reference books can be found in the Catalog. Online Reference Materials can be found in:
- Stat!Ref: a database that searches the contents of over 40 medical reference books
- FLITE's Online Reference Resources: Select reference books by subject, such as Health and Medicine or cross-search multiple reference books using Facts on File, Gale Virtual Reference Library, Sage eReference Encyclopedias, or Stat!Ref.
- Ebrary is a collection of many online books that may prove to be helpful.
After gathering background information on your topic, you will want to focus your search in databases to find relevant information on your topic. If you are doing research from off-campus, you will need to log-on to use databases and other online resources licensed by FSU. You can use your MyFSU username and password to log-on to the databases. Click here for more information on off-campus database access.
Find Evidence-Based Information
Stat!Ref
Although filled with reference books, Stat!Ref also has a continuously updated evidence-based resource, ACP Pier.
PubMed
This is the largest biomedical database, with over 19 million citations. To find evidence-based resources:
- Click on Advanced Search
- Type in your search terms either in the top box, or use the search box underneath Search by Author, Journal, Publication Date, and More, and enter your search terms, and change the drop-down box to Title so your keywords or only searched in the title
- Under Limits, for Type of Article select both Meta-Analysis and Practice Guideline, then click on Search
- To get the full text of the articles, you must click into the PubMed record, then click on the Find It link. For more information on getting the full text of articles, see the Obtaining the Full-Text of Articles section below.
Click here for a PubMed tutorial.
CINAHL
The Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL) currently gathers information from more than 1800 journals. Use the CINAHL Headings subtab to get more subject-specific information on various topics. When you have found your subject heading, you may click on it to break your topic down by subdivision. To specifically find articles that are evidence-based:
- If you have already done a search and want to narrow your results to evidence-based, click on Search Options located to the right of the results list, and then add the following limits:
- Under Publication Type, you will want to select 2 options. To select more than one option You must hold down the control key then select Practice Guideline and Systematic Review
- Click on search
- If you are just starting your search, after typing in your keywords, Under Publication Type, you will want to select 2 options. To select more than one option You must hold down the control key then select Practice Guideline and Systematic Review
- Click on Search
Cochrane Library Main component of this database is systematic reviews (secondary literature)
The Cochrane Library is a valuable resource for evidence-based medicine. The Systematic Reviews in this library contain pooled data from numerous studies on a particular topic. The pooled data has been synthesized and scrutinized to arrive at a statistically valid conclusion regarding the effectiveness of a treatment/procedure. This library is growing, so be sure to check back at a later time if you are not currently finding information on your topic. You can search using keywords, such as disease names and treatments, or browse Cochrane Reviews by topic. *Please note that Cochrane Review Records can also be found in PubMed. If you find a Cochrane Review in PubMed, open the Cochrane Database and search for the review within Cochrane to get the full text.
Trip Database
This well known database is freely available on the Internet and provides evidence-based information. Search the entire database, or proceed to the specialist site of interest.
Obtaining the Full-Text of Articles
In some databases you will see an option for a Text version of the document or a PDF version. In general, the PDF version is preferable as it is most often a scanned version of the original and will therefore contain the graphics. When e-mailing, printing, or saving a group of articles, be sure to select the full-text or PDF option if available.
Some databases contain little full-text, but allow you to link out to Ferris' holdings or the interlibrary loan request form. You will notice the Find it! links following individual citations that will indicate the availability of the article online, in the library, or the need to interlibrary loan the article. Click on the Go button and you will be taken to the online version, library holdings record, or interlibrary loan form to obtain the article you desire. See image below.
Sample Article Link-Out:
After clicking on Find It a window similar to the one below will come up.
Evaluating your Articles
Before requesting articles from interlibrary loan, please review the abstract and make sure that the article is on-topic. Also, please insure that the article is in a language that you speak, as some databases, such as PubMed index many non-English articles that have abstracts written in English. After you have evaluated the topical coverage and language of the article, please do not hesitate to request it through interlibrary loan if it is not available on campus.
Other Useful Library Links
Find Articles in Databases:
Choose your topic area, and proceed from there.
Find Journals:
Look for journals by doing title, keyword, or subject searches.
Find library materials in the Online Catalog:
Look for books, videos, and other library holdings.
APA Citation Style Guide:
Learn basics about APA style, a prevalent citation format in the medical field.
*** Check out the free online book Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses made available by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ***
Any more questions? Contact: Alison (Ali) Konieczny / Email / Phone: 231-591-3696 / Office: FLITE 315
Don't forget, you are welcome to come to the Oval Information Desk and ask for help any time. You can also call us 231-591-3602 or chat with us.
Last update: Oct. 28, 2009