Evidence Based Practice in the Health Sciences: Getting Started with EBP

Hours:

• Library Hours

Research Help:

• Start your Research
• Research Guides
• Virtual Libraries
• Information Literacy

Contact Us:

• 24/7 Research Help
• Email us
• Schedule a Research Consultation
• Call Us: (626) 815-3847

The 7 Steps of Evidence-Based Practice: 

A systematic approach to improving healthcare outcomes

• What it means: Foster an environment where questioning current practices and seeking better ways to provide care is encouraged and supported. It's about asking, "Why do we do it this way?"

• What it means: Formulate clear, answerable questions that guide your search for evidence.

• PICOT stands for:

  • Patient/Population

  • Intervention/Interest

  • Comparison Intervention/Group

  • Outcome

  • Time (optional)

• What it means: Systematically look for relevant research and evidence from reliable sources (e.g., databases like PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, Cochrane Library). Using a well-formulated PICOT question helps narrow the search.

• What it means: Evaluate the quality, validity, reliability, and applicability of the gathered evidence to your clinical question. This involves assessing the research methods and findings.

• What it means: Combine the best available research evidence with your own clinical experience and the individual patient's unique preferences, values, and circumstances to make a clinical decision.

• What it means: After implementing a change based on EBP, measure and monitor its effects on patient outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and other relevant indicators. Is the change making a difference?

• What it means: Share the findings and outcomes of your EBP initiative with others through presentations, publications, or internal reports. This helps to build the body of evidence and promotes further EBP implementation.

Melnyk, B. M., Fineout-Overholt, E., Stillwell, S. B., & Williamson, K. M. (2010). Evidence-based practice: step by step: The seven steps of evidence-based practice. AJN, American Journal of Nursing, 110(1), 51–53. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0000366056.06605.d2

Coming soon!

Table of Contents

• Front Cover
• Introduction
• Part I: Evidence-Based Practice Background
  • Chapter 1: Evidence-Based Practice: Context, Concerns, and Challenges
  • Chapter 2: Creating a Supportive EBP Environment
• Part II: The Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice Model and Guidelines
  • Chapter 3: The Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice (JHEBP) Model for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) Process Overview
• Part III: Practice Question, Evidence, Translation (PET)
  • Chapter 4: The Practice Question Phase
  • Chapter 5: Searching for Evidence
    • SPECIAL EVIDENCE SECTION
  • Chapter 6: Evidence Appraisal: Research
  • Chapter 7: Evidence Appraisal: Nonresearch
  • Chapter 8: Translation
  • Chapter 9: Dissemination
• Part IV: Exemplars
  • Chapter 10: Exemplars
• Part V: Using the JHEBP Tools
  • Chapter 11: Lessons From Practice: Using the JHEBP Tools
• Part VI: Appendices 
  • Appendix A: PET Process Guide (Downloadable in PDF)
  • Appendix B: Question Development Tool (Downloadable in PDF)
  • Appendix C: Stakeholder Analysis and Communication Tool (Downloadable in PDF)
  • Appendix D: Hierarchy of Evidence Guide (Downloadable in PDF)
  • Appendix E: Research Evidence Appraisal Tool (Downloadable in PDF)
  • Appendix F: Nonresearch Evidence Appraisal Tool (Downloadable in PDF)
  • Appendix G: Individual Evidence Summary Tool (Downloadable in PDF)
  • Appendix H: Synthesis and Recommendations Tool (Downloadable in PDF)
  • Appendix I: Translation and Action Planning Tool (Downloadable in PDF)
  • Appendix J: Publication Guide (Downloadable in PDF)
  • Appendices Downloadable in Word (complete form to download the documents in Word Format)
• Index

• BMJ Users' guides to the nursing literature: an introduction

"Evidence-based nursing (EBN) means using the best available evidence from research, along with patient preferences and clinical experience, when making nursing decisions.¹ Nurses are increasingly concerned about ensuring that care is research based, and EBN offers a strategy to help nurses achieve this goal by using 5 steps:

Step 1: reflecting on practice and identifying areas of uncertainty

Step 2: translating these areas of uncertainty into focused, searchable questions²

Step 3: searching the literature for studies that use appropriate designs to help answer the question^3–6

Step 4: critically appraising the research

Step 5: changing practice if the research suggests this is necessary." (Cullum, 2000)

• Asking Answerable Questions
• Reviewing the literature
• Searching for the best evidence. Part 1: where to look
• Searching for the best evidence. Part 2: searching CINAHL and Medline