Research utilization: once-a-day temperatures for afebrile patients

Clinical Coaching

PURPOSE

The purpose of this article is to describe how clinical nurse specialists can promote the development of knowledge and skills in nurses as one step toward making evidence-based nursing practice the norm in all patient care settings.

BACKGROUND

The need for the use of evidence in nursing practice has been highlighted for several decades. Moving evidence more quickly into practice requires that nursing use many strategies.

DESCRIPTION OF STRATEGY

The strategy of clinical coaching is proposed in this article for the development of skills in nurses specifically to promote evidence-based nursing practice. Clinical coaching is a relationship for the purpose of building skills. This strategy is aimed at increasing foundational staff nurse knowledge and skills.

CONCLUSION

The achievement and maintenance of evidence-based nursing practice take continuous attention from clinical nurse specialists. Clinical coaching is only one part of a comprehensive approach for establishing and sustaining evidence-based nursing practice.

Using the linkage model for integrating evidence into home care nursing practice

A home care agency's patient population with heart failure demonstrated improved outcomes after the agency implemented an evidence-based protocol. The model holds promise for use in other agencies working to improve patient outcomes as well as have an impact on decreasing costs.

Using research to establish protocols for practice: a statewide study of acute care agencies

The purpose of the study was to examine research utilization practices relative to developing and revising practice protocols in acute care agencies in Delaware. Nurse leaders in 13 acute care agencies identified resource nurses most familiar with the development and revision of agency protocols. Thirty-two resource nurses from 11 agencies, representing critical care, emergency, general medical, general surgical, obstetric, and psychiatric nursing, were interviewed. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. Examples of research-based protocols, defined as those supported by research citations, were obtained. The authors found that the majority of protocols submitted, although referenced, were not research-based. Most institutions used textbooks and standards to support nursing practice protocols. The authors concluded that nurses who are responsible for developing and revising agency protocols were not familiar with the use of research findings to guide the development or revision of protocols and were unsure what constituted the "use of research."