Evidence-based practice (EBP) integrates the best evidence available to guide optimal nursing care, with a goal to enhance safety and quality. EBP is crucial to nursing practice because it incorporates the best evidence from current literature, along with the expertise of the practicing nurse. The concern for quality care that flows from EBP generates a desired outcome. Without these factors, a nurse cannot be an effective leader. It is important to lead not only from this position but from knowledge and expertise. To gain the knowledge, you require a good understanding of how to search for scholarly resources, as well as identify which databases and websites are credible for the purposes of implementing evidence-based changes in practice.

Creating an ePortfolio is not required in the BSN program, but you may find it helpful to create one to attach to your professional resume while job hunting. Online ePortfolios serve two key purposes: 1) to support learning and reflection, and 2) to be used as a showcase tool. Your learning journey can be documented, and ePortfolios contribute to lifelong learning and growth through reflection and sharing. Online ePortfolios can also be shared with employers and peers to present artifacts that demonstrate your accomplishments at Capella.

As a baccalaureate-prepared nurse, you will be responsible for providing patient-centered, competent care based on current evidence-based best practices. You will be required to do research, analysis, and dissemination of best evidence to stay abreast of these best practices. Understanding where to go to find credible sources and locate evidence, as well as which search terms to use, is the foundation of incorporation of best practices.

You are supervising three nurses working on the medical-surgical floor of a local teaching hospital. This hospital is nationally recognized as a leader in education and has a computer lab with an online library where staff has access to medical research databases (that is, CINAHL, PubMed, Medline, and Cochrane library) and online sources of all hospital policies, procedures, and guidelines, and computers at nurse workstations that also have access to these resources. (For this scenario, use the Capella University Library to simulate the hospital’s online library.) You have given the nurses their patient assignments and you have all participated in shift report. A new nurse who just completed orientation and training a week ago approaches you and tells you that one of the assigned patients has a diagnosis he or she is very unfamiliar with. Knowing that patient-centered care based on best practices is imperative to positive patient outcomes, you want to assist this nurse to find research that can be utilized to provide the best care for this patient. Describe how you would communicate with this nurse to encourage him or her to research the diagnosis. Assume you will assist in the quest to locate evidence, then describe where you would go within the facility and what resources you would look for. These resources may include websites, journals, facility policies or guidelines, or any other sources of online information.

To select the diagnosis for the patient in this scenario, review the three diagnoses presented in the Assessment 01 Supplement: Locating Credible Databases and Research [PDF]  Download Assessment 01 Supplement: Locating Credible Databases and Research [PDF]resource and select one. You will use this same diagnosis to complete the next two assessments.

Create a list of at least five sources that could be used to find evidence, with the best source listed first, and explain why the sources you chose are best to find evidence for the diagnosis you chose and the clinical scenario. You are only evaluating the sources of evidence (database, website, policy database or website, journal article, et cetera). You are not actually completing a search and selecting evidence. Consider the following examples: a nursing journal in CINAHL may not be the best source of evidence for information on how to administer medications through a central-venous catheter, whereas a hospital policy database found on a website may not be the best source of information on caring for a patient with a rare chromosomal abnormality.

• To help ensure you are prepared to complete this assessment, review the following resources related to the Capella library. These resources will provide you an overview of the types of tools, resources, and guides available in the library. This may be useful in forming a better understanding of the library to apply to the hypothetical situation laid out in the scenario of this assessment.

BSN Program Library Research Guide.

Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing & Health Sciences.

Databases A-Z: Nursing & Health Sciences.

Get Critical Search Skills.

Remember, it is also appropriate to look toward databases and resources outside of the Capella library, such as organizational policies, professional organizations, and government health care resources.

You are encouraged to complete the Evaluating the Credibility of Evidence activity. This activity offers an opportunity to practice evaluating the credibility of evidence. These skills will be necessary to complete Assessment 1 successfully and is for your own practice and self-assessment. Completing this activity is also a way to demonstrate course engagement.

The purpose of this assessment is to understand where to find evidence that can be applied to clinical scenarios and to learn effective communication and collaboration with clinical staff during the process of evidence location. As a baccalaureate-prepared nurse, you will not only use research for self-improvement in your clinical role, but you will also serve as a mentor to supervised nursing staff. Therefore, you will need to be able to communicate and collaborate effectively to guide them toward resources to find research, as well as support them through the initial evidence location process. In doing so, nurses can gain access to evidence that can be analyzed and utilized to stay current on best practices. This allows them to provide safe, patient-centered care and improve patient outcomes.

For this assessment:

Describe your role as a baccalaureate-prepared nurse supervising clinical staff nurses with regard to communication and collaboration in locating evidence for application to a nursing practice scenario.

Compile a list of five online databases or other online sources (that is, websites, journals, facility policies or guidelines, et cetera) that can be used to research evidence to apply to the diagnosis in this scenario and describe to which of these you would direct a nurse colleague to search for evidence.

Describe where you might go in the work place to complete this research and how you would access the desired, relevant research within research databases or other online sources.

• Be sure to address the following in this assessment, which correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Please study the scoring guide carefully so that you will know what is needed for a distinguished score.

Describe communication strategies to encourage nurses to research the diagnosis/practice issue, as well as strategies to collaborate with the nurses to access resources.

• Describe the best places to complete research and what types of resources you would want to access to find pertinent information for the diagnosis/health care issue within the context of a specific health care setting.

Identify five sources of online information (medical journal databases, websites, hospital policy databases, et cetera) that could be used to locate evidence for a clinical diagnosis/practice issue.

• Explain why the sources of online information selected should provide the best evidence for the chosen diagnosis/health care issue.

Communicate using writing that is clear, logical, and professional with correct grammar and spelling using current APA style.

• Note: While you are not selecting and evaluating specific evidence to help with the clinical diagnosis/practice issue, you should still be citing the literature and best practices to support your description of your communication and collaboration approach. Additionally, it is appropriate to cite best practices related to EBP and evaluating databases to support your explanation as to why you selected the five sources of online information that you did.

Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like:

Assessment 1 Example [PDF] Download Assessment 1 Example [PDF].Your assessment should meet the following requirements:

Length of submission: 2-4 pages (not including the title page or the reference page) description of communication, collaboration, and evidence location process, including a list of databases or other sources with description of why they are appropriate for clinical scenario diagnosis/health care issue (that is, something that would be useable in professional practice for other nurses). Be sure to include an APA-formatted reference page at the end of your submission.

Number of references: Cite a minimum of three sources of scholarly or professional evidence that supports your findings and considerations. Resources should be no more than five years old.

Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. At a minimum, be sure to address each point. In addition, you are encouraged to review the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.

For this assessment, develop a solution to a specific ethical dilemma faced by a health care professional. In your assessment:

Select one of the case studies presented in the Assessment 03 Supplement: Applying Ethical Principles [PDF] Download Assessment 03 Supplement: Applying Ethical Principles [PDF]resource. 

Note: The case study may not supply all of the information you need. In such cases, you should consider a variety of possibilities and infer potential conclusions. However, please be sure to identify any assumptions or speculations you make.

Summarize the facts in the selected case study and use the three components of an ethical decision-making model to analyze an ethical problem or issue and the factors that contributed to it.

Identify which case study you selected and briefly summarize the facts surrounding it. Identify the problem or issue that presents an ethical dilemma or challenge and describe that dilemma or challenge.

Identify who is involved or affected by the ethical problem or issue.

Access the Ethical Decision-Making Model media piece and use the three components of the ethical decision-making model (moral awareness, moral judgment, and ethical behavior) to analyze the ethical issues.

Apply the three components outlined in the Ethical Decision-Making Model media.

Analyze the factors that contributed to the ethical problem or issue identified in the case study.

Describe the factors that contributed to the problem or issue and explain how they contributed.

Apply academic peer-reviewed journal articles relevant to an ethical problem or issue as evidence to support an analysis of the case.

In addition to the readings provided, use the Capella library to locate at least one academic peer-reviewed journal article relevant to the problem or issue that you can use to support your analysis of the situation. The NHS-FPX4000: Developing a Health Care Perspective Library Guide will help you locate appropriate references. You will select at least one current scholarly or academic peer-reviewed journal articles published during the past 3–5 years that relate to your topic.

Cite and apply key principles from the journal article as evidence to support your critical thinking and analysis of the ethical problem or issue.

Review the Think Critically About Source Quality resource.

Assess the credibility of the information source.

Assess the relevance of the information source.

Discuss the effectiveness of the communication approaches present in a case study.

Describe how the health care professional in the case study communicated with others.

Assess instances where the professional communicated effectively or ineffectively.

Explain which communication approaches should be used and which ones should be avoided.

Describe the consequences of using effective and non-effective communication approaches.

Discuss the effectiveness of the approach used by a professional to deal with problems or issues involving ethical practice in a case study.

Describe the actions taken in response to the ethical dilemma or issue presented in the case study.

Summarize how well the professional managed professional responsibilities and priorities to resolve the problem or issue in the case.

Discuss the key lessons this case provides for health care professionals.

Apply ethical principles to a possible solution to an ethical problem or issue described in a case study.

Describe the proposed solution.

Discuss how the approach makes this professional more effective or less effective in building relationships across disciplines within his or her organization.

Discuss how likely it is the proposed solution will foster professional collaboration.

Write clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.

Apply the principles of effective composition.

Determine the proper application of the rules of grammar and mechanics.

Write using APA style for in-text citations, quotes, and references.

Determine the proper application of APA formatting requirements and scholarly writing standards.

Integrate information from outside sources into academic writing by appropriately quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing, following APA style.

Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like:

.https://media.capella.edu/CourseMedia/nhs4000eleme…

https://capellauniversity.libguides.com/NHSFPX4000

https://campus.capella.edu/library/library-research-skills/evaluating-source-quality