Integrating the online nursing evidence‐based information resources for evidence‐based nursing study in China

At present Chinese nurses could not get the up‐to‐date and high‐quality evidences efficiently and conveniently due to language barrier and other practical difficulties. This program built a Chinese website of integrated evidence‐based network information resources for EBN studies. Researchers hope to provide practical guidance and advice for nurses in non‐English‐speaking countries..     

Evidence‐based nursing: clarifying the concepts for nurses in practice

Aim. To provide a critical analysis of key concepts associated with evidence‐based nursing (EBN) to substantiate an operational definition for nurses to use in practice. Background. Despite the plethora of literature surrounding what evidence‐based nursing is and is not and how it differs from its cousins, evidence‐based medicine and evidence‐based practice, nurses still struggle to get evidence into practice. Several reasons for this have been reported, for example, a lack of understanding about what evidence‐based nursing means or time to engage with and apply the evidence into practice. Design. An in‐depth critical review and synthesis of literature was undertaken. Method. Using the key words; evidence‐based nursing, evidence‐based medicine and evidence‐based practice 496 articles were yielded. These articles were limited to 83. Using Burns and Grove’s (2001) phased approach to reviewing the literature the articles were critically reviewed and categorised into key concepts and themes. Results. The in‐depth critical review and synthesis of the literature demonstrated that evidence‐based nursing could be defined as a distinct concept. The review clearly shows that for evidence‐based nursing to occur, nurses need to be aware of what evidence‐based nursing means, what constitutes evidence, how evidence‐based nursing differs from evidence‐based medicine and evidence‐based practice and what the process is to engage with and apply the evidence. Conclusion. The in‐depth critical review and synthesis of the evidence‐based nursing literature reinforces the need to consolidate a position for nursing in the evidence‐based field. The review confirms that evidence‐based nursing can be defined and conceptualised; however, for nurses to engage and apply with the evidence‐based processes they need to be informed of what these are and how to engage with them in practice. Relevance to clinical practice. This paper examines the concept of evidence‐based nursing and its application to clinical practice.     

The Effect of Social Support on Functional Recovery and Well‐Being in Older Adults Following Joint Arthroplasty

Projections by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate a continual rise in the population of older adults. Along with increased dependency among older adults, chronic illness and aging may have attendant social and personal concerns in the areas of health care, community health services, and quality of life. Direct and indirect costs of osteoarthritis are $120 billion per year in medical treatment and lost wages. Every year more than 300,000 knee replacements and 120,000 hip replacements are performed in the United States ( Sapountzi‐Krepia et al., 2007 ). A large percentage of joint replacement patients have now assumed responsibility for their recovery process. This exploratory study assessed and measured social support and evaluated its impact on functional recovery and well‐being in older adults after joint arthroplasty. Although social support, associated with the covariates of “living arrangements” and “age,” demonstrated a positive relationship with perceived well‐being, no relationship was demonstrated with high or low levels of social support and functional recovery.     

Perceived knowledge,skills, attitude and contextual factors affecting evidence‐based practice among nurse educators,clinical coaches and nurse specialists

Evidence‐based practice (EBP) in the clinical setting is recognized as an approach that leads to improved patient outcomes. Nurse educators (NEs), clinical coaches (CCs) and nurse specialists are in key positions to promote and facilitate EBP within clinical settings and have opportunities to advance practice. Therefore, it is important to understand their perceptions of factors promoting EBP and perceived barriers in facilitating EBP in clinical settings, before developing educational programmes. This paper reports findings from a study that aimed to explore NEs' , CCs' and nurse specialists' knowledge, skills and attitudes associated with EBP. This study used a questionnaire containing quantitative and a small number of qualitative questions to capture data collected from NEs, CCs and nurse specialists working at a tertiary health‐care facility in Victoria, Australia. The questionnaire was distributed to a total of 435 people, of whom 135 responded (31%). Findings revealed that the three senior nurse groups relied heavily on personal experience, organizational policies and protocols as formal sources of knowledge. Furthermore, they had positive attitudes towards EBP. However, participants demonstrated lack of knowledge and skills in appraising and utilizing evidence into practice. They indicated a desire to seek educational opportunities to upskill themselves in the process of EBP.