Evidence-based nursing practice is defined as a medical care approach that seeks to incorporate the best scientific information and data into the daily work of the workers (Camargo et al., 2018). However, many organizations face a number of barriers that hinder its widespread adoption (Duncombe, 2018). As for my organization, I think three factors slow down implementing evidence-based knowledge into everyday practice. They include heavy workload, lack of study materials available, and lack of abilities and knowledge on obtaining the necessary information. Therefore, I would like to suggest initial steps that could be taken to address the issues mentioned above.
Van Den Oetelaar et al. (2016) maintain that nurses’ heavy workload is negatively associated with the quality of the provided services to patients as well as with employees’ work satisfaction. Of course, the easiest decision for the hospital would be to increase the number of staff, but it is not always possible. Therefore, the organizations should pay special attention to workers’ workload management and seek to help nurses to reduce the time for certain operations. For instance, it is suggested that the first step that my organization should take is to purchase patient tracking software. Such a program would allow workers to determine patient’s location constantly without making a phone call and, thus, will save significant time.
Next, to address nurses’ lack of skills and knowledge concerning scientific data obtaining, the organization should conduct a series of lectures on how to search for peer-reviewed articles and scholarly books. For instance, the researcher (preferably from the medical sphere) can be invited to share the knowledge with nurses and other staff. Moreover, the hospital should be able to provide corporate access for paid articles in online journals and/or arrange library membership.
References
Camargo, F. C., Iwamoto, H. H., Galvão, C. M., Pereira, G. D. A., Andrade, R. B., & Masso, G. C. (2018). Competences and Barriers for the Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing: an integrative review. Revista brasileira de enfermagem, 71, 2030-2038.
Duncombe, D. C. (2018). A multi-institutional study of the perceived barriers and facilitators to implementing evidence-based practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 27(5-6), 1216-1226.
Van Den Oetelaar, W. F. J. M., Van Stel, H. F., Van Rhenen, W., Stellato, R. K., & Grolman, W. (2016). Balancing nurses’ workload in hospital wards: study protocol of developing a method to manage workload. BMJ open, 6(11), e012148.