Determining the Credibility of Evidence and Resources

Professional Context

Determining the Credibility of Evidence and Resources

• Develop a 2-4-page scholarly paper in which you describe a quality or safety issue, or a chosen diagnosis, and then identify and analyze credible evidence that could be used as the basis for applying EBP to the issue.

The goal of using evidence-based research findings is to enhance safety and quality of patient care and ensure optimal outcomes are achieved. It is not uncommon to hear a nurse say, "why change it as we’ve always done it this way." However, this is no longer acceptable in today's practice environment. The profession of nursing has evolved, and the expectation is that the professional nurse has a scientific foundation to support the care that is provided. As the profession of nursing continues to evolve and engage in health care transformation, baccalaureate-prepared nurses are expanding taking on leadership roles that include incorporating EBPs. To be able to do this, the nurse needs to understand the criteria and makes a resource credible, as this is crucial when deciding if the research is valid and reliable for implementation into health care settings.

It would be an excellent choice to complete the Vila Health Determining the Credibility of Evidence activity prior to developing the report. The activity is a media simulation that offers an opportunity to review a scenario and work on determining the credibility of presented evidence. These skills will be necessary to complete Assessment 2 successfully. This media simulation is one potential source of context on which to base your assessment submission. This will take just a few minutes of your time and is not graded.

Demonstration of Proficiency

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 2: Analyze the relevance and potential effectiveness of evidence when making a decision.
  • Explain criteria that should be considered when determining credibility of resources such as journal articles and websites.
  • Analyze the credibility and relevance of evidence and resources within the context of a quality or safety issue, or a chosen diagnosis.
• Competency 3: Apply an evidence-based practice model to address a practice issue.
  • Explain the importance of incorporating credible evidence into an EBP model used to address a quality or safety issue, or a chosen diagnosis.
• Competency 4: Plan care based on the best available evidence.
  • Describe a quality or safety issue, or a chosen diagnosis, that could benefit from an evidence-based approach.
• Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly communication strategies to lead practice changes based on evidence.
  • Communicate using writing that is clear, logical, and professional with correct grammar and spelling using current APA style.

As a baccalaureate-prepared nurse, you will be responsible for locating and identifying credible and scholarly resources to incorporate the best available evidence for the purposes of enhancing clinical reasoning and judgement skills. When reliable and relevant evidence-based findings are utilized, patients, health care systems, and nursing practice outcomes are positively impacted.

For this assessment, you may choose from the following options as the context for the quality or safety issue or chosen diagnosis for researching and completing this assessment:

• The specific diagnosis you identified in your previous assessment.
• The simulation Vila Health: Determining the Credibility of Evidence.
• A personal practice experience in which a sentinel event occurred.

The purpose of this analysis is to better understand what constitutes credibility of journal articles as well as websites. The role of the baccalaureate-prepared nurse in incorporating evidence-based research continues to growth in clinical practice. As quality improvement (QI) measures to reduce safety risks continue to be emphasized, the need for evidence-based models and evidence-based templates is growing. This type of systematic approach to incorporating evidence-based findings allows nurses to make clinical and operational decisions based upon the best available evidence. When the most up-to-date evidence-based findings are utilized, patient-centered care improves outcomes and enhances the patient experience.

• Explain the criteria that should be used when determining the credibility of journal articles as well as websites.
• Support your explanations with references to the literature or research articles that describe criteria that should be used to determine credibility.
  • Your identification and determination of credibility should be done within the context of your chosen scenario for this assessment. For example, if you choose to use the provided Vila Health scenario, your initial identification of resources should be of resources that will best help address the presented issue. However, if you are locating resources to help provide evidence-based care for the diagnosis you identified in the first assessment, you may want to begin your literature and evidence search from the databases that identified. Any of the three scenario options are acceptable. So, pick the one that most interests you.

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 a quality or safety issue, or a chosen diagnosis, that could benefit from an evidence-based approach.
• Explain criteria that should be considered when determining credibility of resources such as journal articles and websites.
• Analyze the credibility and relevance of evidence and resources within the context of a quality or safety issue, or a chosen diagnosis.
  • This is where you are selecting the specific resources to help address the issue in your chosen scenario. 
• Explain the importance of incorporating credible evidence into an EBP model used to address a quality or safety issue, or a chosen diagnosis.
• Communicate using writing that is clear, logical, and professional with correct grammar and spelling using current APA style.

Your assessment should meet the following requirements:

• Length of submission: 2–4-page scholarly paper, this does not include the APA-formatted title page and reference list.
• Number of references: Cite 3–5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your findings and considerations. Resources should be no more than five years old.
• APA formatting: References and citations are formatted according to current APA style.