Evidence Informed Practice

     The topic for this weeks class was Evidence informed practice in a technology enhanced workplace. This was the first week where groups began presenting their class discussion facilitation assignments. What is expected of students is to in their groups, prepare a lesson on their assigned weeks topic. Getting the chance to see another group go first has allowed me to better understand what I will need to do with my group to formulate our lesson plan for Week 10. With that said, this weeks group did an excellent job visually displaying and explaining the difference between evidence-informed and evidence-based nursing practice. To easily compare these two the CNA (2010) states “evidence-informed nursing is the ongoing process that incorporates evidence from research, clinical expertise, client preferences and other available resources to make nursing decisions about clients” (p.3). Unlike evidence-based, which is a basic, scientific search, evidence-informed aims to incorporate clinical judgment, ethics, and the client’s values and beliefs. This makes sense to me, because this way, when we provide care, we as nurses are taking into consideration all aspects of the client’s life in order to better find solutions that fit for them.

     The case study that this group incorporated into their lesson plan I believe reflected well on how to use evidence informed nursing. The study was about a 55 year old female family practitioner with a degenerative disease. This causes her to rely on others for help and is greatly affecting her activities of daily living. This client is asking for her right to be euthanized. As a nurse in this situation, I would advocate for this client for various reasons. The first being that it is in a nurse’s duty to advocate for all clients. I also believe that it is not up to anyone else to judge the life of another, only the patient knows themselves best. The fact that the patient used to be a doctor verifies that she knows a little bit about making the choice she has made. We have to empathize with the patient and take her account into consideration. Although I may not agree in euthanizing her, I would support this client by referring her to other resources such as someone she may talk to, to further explore her options. 

References

Canadian Nurses Association. (2010). Position Statement, Evidence-Informed Decision-Making and 

   Nursing Practice. Retrieved from http://www2.cna-aiic.ca/CNA/documents/pdf/publications/PS113_Evidence_informed_2010_e.pdf