Why evidence based

Is there evidence that can guide me to do this in a more effective way? As health professionals, part of providing a professional service is ensuring that our practice is informed by the best available evidence. EBP also plays a role in ensuring that finite health resources are used wisely and that relevant evidence is considered when decisions are made about funding health services. Before EBP health professionals relied on the advice of more experienced colleagues, often taken at face value, their intuition, and on what they were taught as students.

Experience is subject to flaws of bias and what we learn as students can quickly become outdated. Relying on older, more knowledgeable colleagues as a sole information source can provide dated, biased and incorrect information.

This is not to say that clinical experience is not important - it is in fact part of the definition of EBP. However, rather than relying on clinical experience alone for decision making, health professionals need to use clinical experience together with other types of evidence-based information.

Not all research is of sufficient quality to inform clinical decision making. Therefore you need to critically appraise evidence before using it to inform your clinical decision making. The three major aspects of evidence that you need to critically appraise are:. Guyatt, G. Users' guides to the medical literature: XXV. JAMA , , Sackett, D. Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't: it's about integrating individual clinical expertise and the best external evidence.

BMJ , , Mayer, D. Essential evidence-based medicine 2nd ed. And, more importantly, WHY? Evaluate the processes and workflow that impact, or are impacted by, the identified practice gap. Your search will be guided by your clinical question.

Or, in other words, sort, read, and critique peer-reviewed literature. APPLY your findings to clinical decision-making. Integrate the evidence with clinical expertise and patient preferences and values. Then make evidence-based recommendations for day-to-day practice. Review data and document your approach.

Be sure to include any revisions or changes. Keep close tabs on the outcomes of your intervention. Evaluate and summarize the outcome.

Share the results of your project with others. Sharing helps promote best practices and prevent duplicative work. It also adds to the existing resources that support or oppose the practice. Though we may learn how to apply EBP by participating in project-based work, integrating EBP in our daily practice can help us strive to achieve the best possible patient outcomes.

It requires us to be thoughtful about our practice and ask the right questions. It's important to note that although applying evidence at the bedside can be conducted individually, working collaboratively as a team is more likely to result in lasting improvement.

As health care providers, delivery of patient care should stimulate questions about the evidence behind our daily practice. For instance, there was a time when neutropenic patients were placed in strict isolation to protect them from developing life-threatening infections.

Research findings were evaluated for best evidence and it was noted that using strict isolation precautions did not result in more favorable patient outcomes when compared to proper handwashing procedures coupled with standard precautions—and it seemed that we unnecessarily subjected patients to the negative psychological effects caused by extreme isolation.

As clinicians, we sometimes follow outdated policies or practices without questioning their relevance, accuracy, or the evidence that supports their continued use. There is a common misconception that EBP and research are one in the same. Not true! While there are similarities, one of the fundamental differences lies in their purpose. The purpose of conducting research is to generate new knowledge or to validate existing knowledge based on a theory.

Research involves systematic, scientific inquiry to answer specific questions or test hypotheses using disciplined, rigorous methods. For research results to be considered reliable and valid, researchers must use the scientific methods in orderly, sequential steps. But it can be hard to know which ones to trust.

What tradition says Just because something has been used for years doesn't mean it works or can't hurt you. Many complementary and alternative medicines such as herbal products and vitamins have been used for years.

But there isn't always good evidence that they do more good than harm. One study looked at seven reference books. But there was no good evidence that they worked. Traditional remedies may have been used for centuries, but they may not be safe when taken with modern medicines.

John's wort, for example, is a herbal remedy for depression. Unfortunately, it stops some drugs, such as the contraceptive pill and blood-thinning tablets, from working properly. Questions to ask your doctor Here are some questions that might help you weigh up the information you find in the media or on the Internet about treatments.

You could show these questions to your doctor. Subscribe Contact us. Why do we need evidence-based medicine? Some evidence is better than other evidence. When doctors look at the research before recommending a treatment, they are using evidence-based medicine. Evidence-based medicine looks at all the research that there is about a disease or treatment.

When researchers look at whether a treatment works, they look at many more patients than a single doctor will ever treat. Sometimes the evidence can't tell you which treatment is best for you, so it's important that you weigh up the benefits and harms of treatments carefully. Why evidence from research is so important All evidence is not alike. Here are some examples: Fifty years ago, women were often given an enema while they were in labour.

This is uncomfortable and unpleasant. But doctors thought that enemas would reduce the risk of infection for the woman and her baby. Some hospitals gave soapy enemas, which were painful for women.

When doctors studied the results from the research they found there was no evidence that enemas prevented infections. Two studies showed that enemas made more of a mess, and women felt embarrassed by the enema. Resting in bed used to be recommended for many conditions. But now we know that it can often do more harm than good. People who have had a heart attack, for example, do better both physically and mentally if they begin exercising as soon as they feel well enough.

How to weigh other sorts of evidence What friends and family say When you aren't well, your family and friends often give you advice and tell you about their experiences. You do not need to make a decision on the basis of one study.

How could this treatment help me? Has it been studied in people like me? Is it likely that this drug will harm me? Am I more likely to get side effects than other people? For example, older people sometimes have more side effects.

How strong is the evidence that this treatment works? Are the results of the research published in a medical journal? Is just one person telling their story on television? What are the alternatives to the treatment being offered?