Steps in undertaking Evidence-Based Practice

Evidence-based practice involves a structured approach that commonly involves these five steps.  

ASK A QUESTION  - Convert your information needs into an answerable clinical question

ACCESS THE INFORMATION/FIND - Select an appropriate resource/s and do a search

APPRAISE - Appraise the evidence for validity (is the evidence trustworthy), impact (size of the effect) and applicability  (usefulness in our clinical practice).

APPLY - Act on or apply the evidence to your clinical situation, including shared decision making, integrating the findings from the critical appraisal step with your clinical expertise; your patient's values, preferences and circumstances; and the practice (clinical) context (Hoffman, 2017; Straus et al., 2018).

A SELF EVALUATION  - Reflect on how you might be able to improve in each step.

 

References

Hoffmann, T., Bennett, S., & Del Mar, C. (2023). Evidence-Based Practice Across the Health Professions (4th ed.) https://www-clinicalkey-com-au.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/#!/browse/book/3-s2.0-C20210011524

Straus, S. E., Glasziou, P., Richardson, W. S., & Haynes, R. B. (2018). Evidence-based medicine e-book : How to practice and teach EBM. Elsevier.