Part of learning to be a nurse is learning about how to nurse. That is, a nurse must learn different nursing theories, methods, and research in order to be able to practice as a nurse in the health care field. Along with the many nursing theories and styles, there are different types of nursing that nurses can draw on in their individual practices. Evidence-based nursing is one type of nursing used by nurses to provide quality care for patients.

What is evidence-based nursing?
Evidence-based nursing is a form of nursing that draws on evidence-based medicine, also called evidence-based practice. Evidence-based medicine provides health care for patients by applying the best available evidence from the scientific method in order to make clinical decisions. It uses research as part of the implementation for the nursing process in an effort to increase the quality of health care provided for patients. There is a large emphasis placed on using evidence from clinical trials and other research studies in order to care for patients. Part of the concern of evidence-based nurses is also providing cost-effective care.

What are the benefits of evidence-based nursing?
One of the major benefits of using evidence-based nursing is that it is so strongly founded in research and evidence. This helps ensure that patients do receive high quality and cost-effective care, and that the nurse has a strong educational foundation in order to care for patients. That is, nurses who practice evidence-based medicine will be extremely familiar with research, clinical trials, and academic papers and journals in the fields of medicine and nursing.

What are the drawbacks of evidence-based nursing?
A drawback of evidence-based nursing is the educational foundation nurses need in research in order to practice it effectively. This is not a type of nursing that can be adopted by all nurses. A nurse must have a library of knowledge in his or her mind to treat patients, and be able to recall evidence from prior reading and study to use as evidence. However, nurses who are more research-minded may find this type of nursing very rewarding.