Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice

Abstract

Nursing research contributes significantly to generate scientific knowledge as too for evidence-based clinical practice. However, the reality experienced in clinical contexts does not accompany the production of scientific evidence, which means there is still a significant gap between theory and practice. The increasing differentiation and empowerment of nurses enhances the relevance of integrating both nursing practice and nursing research – Evidence Based Practice (EBP) has recognized advantages for both professionals, patients and organizations as it informs nursing practice protocols, it improves the quality of care and contributes to reduce expenses through new innovative practices. (Chien et al, 2019) It also has the potential to influence nursing education, although nursing schools are still struggling to find the best way to fit these contents into their curriculum to better prepare nursing professionals. As EBP is becoming widely recognized as a key perspective to improve healthcare quality and patient outcomes, researchers have been struggling to identify priority research areas that influence and support nursing decision-making. Recent evidence identified research priorities in nursing EBP as following: assurance in health care, nurse-patient communication, pain management, taking care of the patients under mechanical ventilation and therapeutic plan care. Nevertheless, the areas of study and intervention are diverse and depend on several factors including health system organization, clinical context, cultural and social context, organizational culture and the need to be evaluated at individual level. Prominent research questions for the implementation of EBP in nursing in the coming years requiring urgent evidence, include   How to integrate and adopt evidence-based nursing interventions in specific healthcare settings How to redesign healthcare systems through creativity and teamwork How to sustain EBP over time How to empower a healthcare workforce with differentiated research skills How to redesign nursing degree curricula to meet EBP requirements