Evidence-based guidelines for nursing practice and implementation barriers

Evidence-Based Guidelines in Nursing Practice:

In the nursing practice, evidence-based guidelines are developed and maintained to improve the reputation of the health facility in its delivery of nursing services. These guidelines are also developed and implemented as measures for promoting evidence-based nursing practice. Generally, evidence-based nursing practice usually involves the identification of solid research findings that are commonly used in the nursing field. This in turn helps in enhancing the quality of patient care and providing the most cost-effective nursing care possible. As opposed to doing things in a specific way, evidence-based nursing practice focuses on the use of research and knowledge. As a result, this concept represents a dramatic shift for older nurses and those who are used to the traditional way of delivering their services.

Currently, these are several opportunities in the day-to-day activities in the nursing practice that continue to develop concerns regarding the validity of the existing nursing practices ("Evidence-Based Nursing Practice," n.d.). As a result, there is an increased need for these practitioners to use evidence in order to enhance the effectiveness of care services. However, the use of evidence is based on several guidelines that are developed through various important steps. Evidence-based guidelines in the nursing practice are developed through creating the need for information, finding the appropriate evidence and examining its validity, developing a change in practice, and implementing and evaluating the practice change.

The existing evidence-based guidelines in the nursing practice include regulations for carrying out efficient research in nursing and other healthcare services, development of the evidence-based practices, and dissemination and implementation of the practice. The other guidelines that exist in this practice are those regarding quality and performance improvement and regulations on the use of nursing research.

Barriers to Using Research Knowledge in Nursing Practice:

Nursing research basically entails systematic inquiry that is specifically geared towards developing, modifying, and expanding nursing knowledge. As a requirement of professional and medical practice, nurses have a specific body of knowledge that deals with the nursing education, administration, and practice. During their work, researchers in the nursing practice explore problems of particular concerns to these professionals, patients, families, and society they serve. While nursing research involves the use of qualitative, quantitative, and triangulated methods, they must follow specific approaches to enhance the accuracy and quality of the data analyses.

While the nursing profession has recognized the significance of research to promote its development and effectiveness, the use of research evidence in this field has been hindered by several barriers. As a result of the barriers, nurses have experienced various factors that interfere with their ability to use research evidence as the basis of their practice (Retsas, 2000). The various factors raised by these practitioners can be classified into four categories i.e. difficulties in accessibility of research findings, expected results of the use of such knowledge, challenges in receiving organizational support for the use of the knowledge, and support from others. These categories of factors can be regarded as the major barriers in nursing to using research knowledge in practice within the field.