Evidence Based Practice: Steps in the Evidence Based Practice Process

There are fives steps in the evidence based practice process.

1. ASK a specific clinical question

• form a relevant and answerable question based on your patient's case

2. ACQUIRE the evidence

• choose applicable resources and perform a search

3. APPRAISE the evidence for its validity and relevance

• examine the articles to determine their validity and applicability to your research

4. APPLY the results in patient care decisions

• use this evidence in conjunction with your clinical knowledge and the patient's values and expectations to make a patient care decision

5. ASSESS the process to improve it

• evaluate your performance throughout this process and review the patient's outcome to determine if and where you could improve.

Throughout this guide, we will use the following clinical case through each of the steps of the evidence-based practice process.

Clinical Scenario:

The patient is a 65 year old male with a long history of type 2 diabetes and obesity. Otherwise his medical history is unremarkable. He does not smoke. He had knee surgery 10 years ago, but has had no other major medical problems. Over the years he has tried numerous diets and exercise programs to reduce his weight, but has not been very successful. His granddaughter just started high school, and he wants to see her graduate and go on to college. He understands that his diabetes puts him at risk for heart disease and is frustrated that he cannot lose the necessary weight. His neighbor told him about a colleague at work who had his stomach stapled and as a result not only lost over 100 lbs., but also "cured" his diabetes. He wants to know if this procedure really works.