Choose a nursing intervention (examples: IV saline flush versus Heparin; current trends in wound care; unrestricted visiting hours versus limited visiting in the ICU, etc.) related to your area of expertise or one that you would like to prove best evidence. Search a minimum of two sites from the below Sources of Evidence for guidelines and/or recommendations from the research for your chosen intervention.
Answer the following questions:
1. Present your intervention and rationale for choosing
2. Who are the authors of the guidelines/recommendations (or articles if an article is included)? Specifically, were any nurses a part of the decision-making? How important is it to have nurses as part of evidence appraisal?
3. What type of evidence was considered when creating the guideline/protocol?
4. Summarize the quality of the evidence and strength of the recommendations.
5. How do these guidelines/recommendations compare to what you know and practice in your institution?
6. Provide a summary of support to continue with current practice or change practice related to the intervention.
Sources of Evidence:
Keiser University Online Library:
Literature searches and data bases (CINAHL, OVID, PROQUEST)
AHRQ Clinical Guidelines and Recommendations:
Information and includes links to NGC, USPSTF, and others.
AHRQ’s National Guideline Clearinghouse:
A public resource for summaries of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines
U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF):
Recommendations from panel of national experts (including nurses) in prevention and evidence-based medicine
Cochrane Reviews:
Systematic reviews of primary research in human health care and health policy
Guideline Central:
Guidelines, quick-reference tools (including apps), available in both print and digital formats
Lippincott’s Evidence-based Practice Network
: Articles, tools, resources for best practices
Professional Nursing Associations such as the
American Nurses Association (ANA):
Standards of Care, Code of Ethics
Specialty organizations such as:
Emergency Nurses Association
– Practice Resource Library
Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN):
Position statements and resources