Evidence Based Practice Essay

I think that evidence based practice is a very important aspect of nursing that should drive treatment, policy and procedure. Even though evidence based practice is informative and provides the best or leading theories to better our patients there doesn’t seem to be a standard to when evidence based practice is rolled out throughout different hospital systems. Some hospitals are using the latest and greatest methods for treating patients and some hospitals are years behind. Why is it that there isn’t a set standard on how long a hospital has to transfer to the new method and why don’t hospitals push to be using the best known care for their patients to improve outcomes. We as nurses should want to provide the best care to our patients as possible and it seems that the standard of care varies widely between different hospitals and hospital systems without an easy way for patients to be able to discern which ones are using evidence to drive their treatment.
Having a set standard of care for all hospitals seems like it would have the best outcomes and satisfaction for all patients. I understand that budget concerns can affect getting new equipment or changing policy, but still having a set standard of time to change the policy would help ensure the best care for the patient. Hospitals and nurses always throw around terms like patient centered care or patient focused care, but I feel that this is just for show and another way to attract patients to come through their doors. How can a hospital produce these statements if they in fact know they are not providing evidenced based practice to their patients and