Evidenced-Based Practice is arguably the most important aspect of nursing practice and research. I found this course very challenging because I have a tendency to base my nursing practice on what I learn through my experience, advice from experienced nurses and what I notice has the best outcome for my patients. Experience-Based nursing is not necessarily wrong, but it is even better when backed by research and facts. That is what Evidenced-Based Practice is to me; taking a nursing theory believed to be true and backing it up with factual research.

Both tasks in the Evidence-Based Practice course helped to develop me professionally. EBP task 1 helped me to become a researcher, searching for the evidence to back up my knowledge and hypotheses. I now have a lot of respect for nursing researchers and their contribution to the practice. EBP task 2 gave me the skills to put my research into my everyday nursing practice. I will more than likely never become a research nurse, but I will always carry the knowledge gained from this course with me along the way. 

Evidenced Based Practice and Applied Nursing Research taught me how to take nursing practice and turn it into a science. Science is based on truth and evidence; nursing practice becomes valid when backed by scientific research. The nursing practice is ever changing as diseases evolve and as our knowledge base increases.

I also learned how to distinguish between primary and secondary research. Primary research is, simply stated, when the authors who wrote the research article, actually performed the research themselves. Primary research is best utilized when a new idea is established and one wants to prove the new theory according to sound scientific evidence. Secondary research is still based on fact, but it is based on the research conducted by someone other than the author. Secondary research would be appropriate to use when wanting to establish an already common practice in a new practice setting. This course taught me how to write a report as a secondary researcher and how to evaluate current primary research articles, sifting out the ones without a solid foundation.

Relevancy and believability of data are key to finding the proper research. If an article is not relevant to what you are researching, it should not be considered as a source. Also, if an article is not based on fact, it becomes unbelievable, and should therefore not be used as a source while researching any nursing topic.

Although quality improvement and research are similar, they are not the same. Quality Improvement is a common procedure in medical facilities and general nursing practice. When a problem is identified, hospitals and medical practices want to correct the situation immediately to improve the quality of care for our patients and improve outcomes. It is a quick yet effective way to correct action using experience and evaluation. However, after the dust settles, and corrective action is taken, it is important to back up the change with data. Research is pertinent at this stage of process development. Research involves the development of theory, testing, and evaluation to concede a sound conclusion based on evidence.

I became proficient in Evidence-Based Practice in my role as a Home Health Nurse. I purposefully used topics from my everyday practice and used this course to help me understand my role better. I took the information learned to the other nurses I work with and explained how a more efficient admission and discharge practice could help us eliminate wasted resources and improve patient outcomes. I began to feel like I wasn’t a novice nurse anymore, I started to achieve excellence in nursing which is something I have always sought but never realized until conducting my own research and including it in my practice.