For me, evidence based practice is a model of care used by clinicians and carers in the treatment/care of patients which is based on evidence from research, clinical expertise and patient values. I agree with the definition that evidence-based practice is “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of the individual patient” (Sackett, Rosenberg, Gray, Haynes & Richardson, 1996 p. 71)
Evidence based practice aims to provide quality care for individuals in a timely, efficient and effective manner (Cluett &Bluff, 2006). This is achieved by evaluating the ideas and practices put forward by clinical research, clinical expertise and patient values (figure 1). This information accesses what is known about condition/diseases and the treatments that have been done previously, which can be used to base decision on what should be done in future.
Sackett et al. (1996) suggest that the best available research should be clinically relevant, based on the medical and patient centred research. This allows for up-to-date treatments that are more accurate, powerful and safer for patients compared to previous studies (Sackett et al., 1996). Clinical expertise in …show more content…
However, evidence-based practice does have limitations, if overlooked, they can potentially impact on the reliability, generalisability and validity of evidence at an individual level and community level. Overall, evidence-based practice is a great tool to utilise within the health sector as it enables valid interventions to be implemented, however, it is important to consider individual/community patient characteristics and values to provide the best appropriate