Clinical Decision Making of Nurses Working in Hospital Settings, Research Paper Example

Best practices require nurses to continue to explore new alternatives that will support patient care quality and education when current activities are no longer sufficient to meet the demands of the practice environment. However, the evidence examined must be strong enough to demonstrate that a different type of practice will lead to a better outcome. In addition, best practices may be subjective to some degree, thereby requiring a consensus of experts to determine if the evidence makes the grade. Therefore, evidence-based practice change must be accomplished in conjunction with clinical decision-making that will improve outcomes for patients, based upon prior knowledge and data in a given subject area (Bjork et.al, 2011). Evidence-based practice will support any potential changes in the maternity ward that may be required to improve outcomes, but that are grounded in sufficient evidence to improve quality of life and the birthing process (Bjork et.al, 2011).

A change to the practice setting must be grounded in prior evidence because it has significant impact on expectant mothers and their unborn children (Van Teijlingen et.al, 2011). This practice requires an examination of nurse-led protocols in order to determine where weaknesses exist so that new best practices may be considered for implementation (Van Teijlingen et.al, 2011). Therefore, in order to achieve the desired benefits, the practice change must be proven viable through an evaluation of prior studies to ensure that the process will be effective during and after the transition stage (Van Teijlingen et.al, 2011). The efforts required to promote nursing-related objectives must be appropriately based upon existing evidence because these factors support continuous improvement in the practice environment in order to improve outcomes and support a viable framework for success in improving quality of care in the maternity ward that is focused and attentive to patient needs above all else.

References

Bjork, I.T., Hamilton, G. A. (2011). Clinical Decision Making of Nurses Working in Hospital Settings. Nursing Research and Practice, 2011: 1-8.

Van Teijlingen E.R., Simkhada, B., Ireland, J. C. M., Simkhada, P. P., Bruce, J. (2011). Evidence-based health care in Nepal: The importance of systematic reviews. Nepal Journal of epidemiology, 1(4).