Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
-
J Am Assoc Nurse Pract · Jan 2013
Evidence-based practice for the busy nurse practitioner: part four: putting it all together.
Understanding the critical appraisal process allows nurse practitioners (NPs) to determine a study's reliability, validity, and applicability to their client(s)/families, and to their clinical practice setting. The purpose of this final part of this four-part evidence-based practice (EBP) series is designed to utilize a clinical scenario that will walk the NP through EBP steps 1 through 3 while providing an example of how to critically appraise a randomized control trial. ⋯ It is hoped that this four-part series enhanced NPs' understanding of the EBP processes of developing a clinical inquiry, searching for the best evidence, critically appraising the evidence, and integrating EBP into clinical practice.