The halmark of an excellent nurse, is that they recognize their growth in the use of the most up to date evidence-based practices. The art of nursing is the application of evidence applied into the day to day tasks we provide as caring. The science of nursing is the diligent research in the ever-changing science of best practices. To always seek knowledge to decrease adverse patient outcomes, to challenge norms with new and better standards of care, and to always keep your patient at the center of your care is the fundamental application of this practice. The meticulous study of best practices is arduous but necessary work. My Professional Roles and Values coursework combined researching nursing philosophy, nursing figures, and the code of ethics to help underscore the value of utilizing evidence with sound nursing reasoning to come up with the application of evidence based science. The foundation of good nursing framework in combination with best practices assures excellent nursing care. The nurse’s application of the evidence lends credence to the values we hold as nurses that best practice are always based in sound science

My coursework at WGU in Evidence Based Practice and Applied Nursing Research served to enhance my existing knowledge of the principles of this discipline. As a leader of the healing environment in my workplace at Cony Middle and High School, utilizing best practices with my population is essential. Being able to identify best data sources, research findings, utilize scientific inquiry, and evaluate research enables me to promote interventions in my workplace that are tailored to my community population.

My submitted paper for evidence based practice shows my ability to find sources of credible information, find current issues and disparities of quality in healthcare, and show how science can provide interventions that through application, can improve care. This submission supports my definition of evidence-based practice being one of the cornerstones of nursing care. The blending of patient care or what I like to call the “art” of nursing with the evidence or the “science” of nursing is the part of nursing I have always loved the most.

This submission also supports my definition of what evidence based is. The paper I wrote for this class is an excellent example of how nursing specific interventions in real time affect patient morbidity and mortality. This work shows what the science of nursing entails, using excellent data sources and sound hypotheses and interventions. In utilizing the WGU library, I was able to conduct literature reviews and research and assess the types of literature I encountered. Perhaps the most challenging part of the paper, identifying the difference between quality improvement and primary research was trying at times but I was able to review my topic and pull appropriate primary research articles to support my research and develop my paper’s main ideas utilizing the proper search terms and focusing on article descriptions provided in the literature. Because the source of the evidence was primary, I was able to provide relevancy and believability of data. In task two, I was able to build on my knowledge of primary research versus secondary research and pull on meta analysis to further prove my paper’s thesis. By showing how nurses can intervene through qualitative and quantitative primary studies and then through secondary research such as reviews, I was able to develop an excellent PICO question and show through primary and secondary literature which nurse led interventions helped to institute research driven change and improve patient outcomes.

The evidence based class thoroughly reminded me of the importance of being able to perform pertinent literature reviews. By being able to identify primary evidence, as nurses we are able to perform our interventions truly using best practice. This enables the nurse to be a leader of science, a pursuer of truth, and a practitioner of using effective interventions to reduce adverse patient outcomes.