Evidence in Action

The beauty of using Evidence-Based Practice in your career.

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Have you ever wondered, could this be done better? Is there a way where I could have provided better care for my patient? These are questions that we ultimately ask ourselves almost on a daily basis. Hello and welcome back to Nursing Together, the podcast where we celebrate. The heart skill and science of nursing. I'm your host, Michelle Hoen, and today we are gonna dive into the topic that touches every patient we care for. Even if you don't always see it in the moment, we are talking about evidence-based practice. Sounds like a textbook phrase, right? But I promise this isn't just for research with lab coats. Evidence-based practice is the foundation of our day-to-day nursing care, and it's directly connected to our patients' outcomes that we all work so hard to achieve. So what is evidence-based practice? Well, evidence-based practice actually integrates three major things, one, the best and most current research available. Two. Your clinical expertise. That's the knowledge and the skill that you've built through your training, through your experience every day. And then third is the preference and the values of your patient. When those three come together, you can get care that's not only scientific sounding, but personalized and compassionate. So last week we did talk about professional practice and what that meant and how to keep up with it. Well, journals are one way in which evidence base is put into our real lives. And not just theories, but let's go ahead and maybe talk about one that you know is a real life example. You're caring for a post-op patient and you remember that there's this new evidence. That says early mobility, even if you just sit in a chair for a few hours after surgery, reduces complications and speeds recovery, you combine that with the research that you have already looked at and your patient's readiness. You can explain the why to that patient on why it is so important to get up. And get moving. That's evidence-based practice in action. It's not just knowing the evidence, it's using it in a way that fits your patient situation. And at that moment could be the difference between a smooth recovery and an unexpected complication. But let me just go ahead and give you. One of my real life examples of evidence-based practice that we did at different elements and different parts of my career, and I'm sure most of you have heard it, but it is the steward based hourly rounding. It was designed to create a proactive nursing practice where nurses and staff regularly checked on their patients as a manager. Evidence-based practice showed that it reduced the workload on the nurse. It enhanced the nurse to patient relationship, and it provided a focus on patient-centered care. Of course, like most teams, my team was not happy about it. In their minds, it was one more thing for them to perform. In their very, very busy day, and they thought it was an unrealistic concept. Well, we came together and we had a team meeting to understand the frustrations, the obstacles, and why they thought that hourly rounding would cause them more work rather than less work. We talked about how it felt, what. They thought would be more time consuming about it and how they felt maybe it was not helpful. I let them know how much I appreciated their feedback and concerns. I listened to them. I tried to help ensure through the evidence-based practice that was presented, that this would be different and that these challenges would work in their favor rather than. Not in their favor, but I also told them if we were honest and everyone participated in hourly, the rounding, and we didn't get the expected results that we were supposed to get, including that reducing the load, their workload, that they knew me very, very well and they knew that I would go right to the top. And talk with the administration and let them know that this concept was not working. And they did know me and they did know that I had their backs, and they did know that if they put their heart and soul in it and it didn't give us the results, that the evidence showed that it would, that I would go speak to someone about it. As you can imagine, or as you've already realized, it did work. We did reduce the number of falls on our units. Our patient satisfaction scores were higher and the nurses did have a reduced workload and were, and became more efficient. Not only did they absolutely love it, we also became the most successful unit for our patient and employee outcomes. After about 60 days, we reflected on our journey and our successes, and we came to the agreement that we did follow our evidence-based guidelines. And hourly rounding was best practice for enhancing patient care. So why does evidence-based practice matter for our patient outcomes? The truth is nursing is where science meets humanity. We all apply research-based practices. We're not just following rules. We're making choices that can reduce those hospital inquired infections, shorten length of stay, improve patient management, increase patient satisfaction, and even. Lower mortality rates, every catheter care protocol, every fall prevention every wound dressing technique, it is all grounded on evidence-based practice. And each one of those details matter. So why do we feel like it's so important for our nurses to understand this? Well, sometimes in the rush of a shift, it's easy to see tasks as just a part of a checklist. But when you know evidence is behind these actions, then they become purposeful. That knowledge empowers you to advocate for the safest and most effective care. Question, outdated practices that no longer serve the patient. Educate not only the patients and the families with confidence, but you're educating yourself and your colleagues and you lead quality improvements within your unit, understanding evidence-based practice isn't about adding one more thing on your plate. It's about making sure what's on your plate is the best possible care for every patient every time. So here are a few ways that you can keep evidence-based practice alive at your work. Stay curious if you continue to wonder why. Something is being done. Look it up or ask. Share knowledge. If you learn something about a new research, bring it to your team and see if it can happen on your unit. Speak up. Advocate for the change when others don't see it, or when you see something outdated or unsafe, practice, bring it up. Connect the dots. Remind yourself. And your patients, how small actions lead to big results? As nurses, we are the bridge between science and healing. Evidence-based practice isn't just a concept, it is the heartbeat of a safe, efficient, and compassionate care. So next time you're in the middle of a busy shift, remember every skill you perform, every choice that you make, every conversation that you have, it's all has the power to shape outcomes and that is something worth feeling proud of. Thanks again for joining me and nursing together. Keep leading with curiosity and compassion and courage. I'll see you next time.