NUR/405: Week 7 – Assignment: Watson Job-Aid and Reflection
August 5, 2012
Kim Hall
University of Phoenix
Introduction
The use of theory and evidence-based research in nursing goes back many years. In an effort to legitimize nursing as a professional career nurses have worked very hard to provide information and verification of practice that works both academically and in reality, be it at the bedside or in the community. People like Jean Watson have dedicated their careers to this pursuit of knowledge and healing.
How Evidence-Based Research Should Guide Your Ability to Deliver Health Care in the Community
Nursing in general needs evidence to justify why it does what it does and how we should do our job to make it safe and secure for our patients be they community or any other setting that nurses practice in. The following quote from Titler, M.G. (2012) in the Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses: Vol. 1, Chapter 7 is an apt explanation: "Nursing has a rich history of using research in practice, pioneered by Florence Nightingale.6–9 Although during the early and mid-1900s, few nurses contributed to this foundation initiated by Nightingale,10 the nursing profession has more recently provided major leadership for improving care through application of research findings in practice.11 "
Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the conscientious and judicious use of current best evidence in conjunction with clinical expertise and patient values to guide health care decisions.12–15 Best evidence includes empirical evidence from randomized controlled trials; evidence from other scientific methods such as descriptive and qualitative research; as well as use of information from case reports, scientific principles, and expert opinion.
In today’s world people want information; unfortunately we do not always get accurate and reputable information. In using evidence-based research we can provide the accurate and