How to Write an Evidence-based Practice Nursing Paper

What Is Evidence-based Writing in Nursing?

It’s not “What is evidence-based writing?” but “What is evidence-based practice?” we should cover first. 

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a golden standard of modern nursing education and clinical practice medicine that requires healthcare workers and even nursing students to conduct a research study, formulate theories based on existing evidence, and implement and assess resulting healthcare solutions. When these principles are applied to a real or hypothetical nursing problem and put on paper, EBP writing is the result. You can expect professors to assign an EBP paper in any class, so it pays to learn how to write it right and use the knowledge throughout your nursing program.

Evidence-based practice (EBP) and nursing theory are closely tied and complement each other in the nursing profession. Nursing theory provides a foundation for understanding the nature of nursing and its role in patient care. EBP, on the other hand, provides a framework for integrating research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values and preferences to optimize patient outcomes.

We’ll share the basics of evidence-based nursing writing in this short guide and provide a template and an example of an evidence-based practice paper in nursing to help you grasp the core requirements, structure, and writing style of this assignment type.

Evidence-based practice implementation

Implementing EBP can be challenging, but the following steps can help:

1. Ask a Clinical Question

The first step is to formulate a clinical question that is focused, answerable, and relevant to the patient's needs. The question should be framed in the PICO format, which stands for:

P: Patient or population

I: Intervention or exposure

C: Comparison or control

O: Outcome

2. Search for Evidence

Once the question has been defined, the next step is to search for relevant evidence. This involves conducting a systematic search of electronic databases, such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, or Embase, using specific keywords and inclusion/exclusion criteria. The search should be comprehensive and follow established guidelines.

3. Evaluate the Evidence

After collecting the evidence, the next step is to critically appraise it for its validity, relevance, and applicability to the patient's situation. This involves assessing the study design, sample size, methodology, results, and conclusions to determine the strength of the evidence.

4. Integrate the Evidence

The fourth step is to integrate the best available evidence with clinical expertise and patient values and preferences to make a decision or develop a plan of care. This involves weighing the benefits and harms of different options, considering the patient's preferences and values, and making an informed decision.

5. Evaluate the Outcomes

The final step is to evaluate the outcomes of the decision or plan of care to determine if it was effective and if any modifications are needed. This involves monitoring the patient's progress, measuring outcomes, and adjusting the plan as needed.

How to Write an Evidence-based Practice Nursing Paper

Like any other assignment, writing an EBP paper seems an insurmountable challenge at first glance. But once you split it into manageable chunks, it becomes just another paper with a bit of a twist. So let’s go over the significant stages of the prewriting and planning process that will help you complete the assignment on time and receive top marks.

Choose a Topic

Your EBP paper topic should fit the class syllabus and meet assignment requirements. Otherwise, you can flex your creative muscles and come up with an excellent research question. It can be something you’re passionate or curious about, something you know well, or something you’ve noticed on your recent clinical rounds. 

To speed up the writing process, we always recommend developing two or three alternative topics and getting your professor’s approval on one of them. Experience shows that the first ideas that come to mind can be bland and generic. But if you have spares up your sleeve, you’ll save yourself an extra trip to the professor’s office hours.

Consult with Your Advisor

While you’re discussing topics with your professor, clear up any confusion about the EBP nursing proposal and assignmentrequirements. You should have a firm grasp of the word count, structure, formatting and citation style, number of sources, etc. Don’t be shy and ask questions before you start writing your evidence-based research paper for nursing, and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and wasted effort.

Don’t think this will be your one and only consultation. For best results, we urge you to get feedback regularly whenever you have the option to show your work and get comments. This way, you’ll get into your professor’s good books and improve your chances of getting a high grade.

Find Resources for Evidence-Based Practice Papers

Evidence is the foundation of your EBP assignment, but not all sources are equal. If you take a look at any high-quality EBP paper example, you’ll notice the reference list follows three critical requirements. Every source used is:

• Relevant. Recent publications include the latest findings that may disprove previous results. Use publication year search filters to weed out outdated results and focus on research published within the last five to ten years. But if your topic is obscure, you may need to look into older papers.
• Credible. Systematic reviews by industry experts published in peer-reviewed journals are the best sources for EBP writing. Alternatively, case studies, expert opinions, and cohort studies should not make the cut when you’re screening sources.
• Valid. High-quality publications use industry-standard research protocols that ensure reproducible results. Pay attention to the studies’ methodology sections, and if they seem suspicious, avoid citing such publications in your piece.

Remember that Google and Wikipedia won’t help you find usable references. Instead, start with Google Scholar and lean heavily into medical and scientific databases, such as PubMed, The Cochrane Collaboration, EBSCO, and others.

Evidence-Based Practice Paper Outline

Below we provide an evidence-based practice nursing paper example outline. It’s typical for this experienced nursing assignment type, but your school or professor may have different structure requirements. Consult the TA or professor before starting this step and get approval once the outline is ready to prevent unpleasant surprises.

1. Introduction

The opening section of the paper should introduce the background information and the current state of the problem. You can rationalize your choice of the research issue and highlight its importance to a specific patient group, nursing employees, or other stakeholders. However, the critical part of the introduction is the PICOT question that often guides writing in nursing papers. 

2. PICOT Question

PICOT stands for Problem (or Population), Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, and Time frame. These are the five aspects of the topic you should clear up before working on your evidence-based paper. You can include the PICOT question at the beginning or the end of the introduction and structure the section accordingly. Remember that your piece will be incomplete without a PICOT question, and you will not receive the grade you deserve.

3. Methodology

Instead of collecting qualitative or quantitative data, you will gather evidence from the sources you’ve found and screened. Therefore, the methodology of the evidence-based practice paper should cover how and why you chose particular studies. You need to include your search method and databases used, as well as the criteria you implemented to screen suitable sources. In most cases, a table is the best way to compare and analyze sources in the methodology section. The table columns could include the method’s name, description, parameters, and limitations.

4. Findings

In this section, you need to analyze the results of the studies you’ve chosen and screened at previous steps. Once again, a table can be the most comfortable tool to achieve desired results. You’ll need to compare populations, samples, pools, research methods, results, and limitations. 

5. Discussion

Discussion is where you synthesize an answer to your PICOT question based on the findings you’ve analyzed in the previous section. You should argue how the research results lead to your proposed solution and suggest an implementation mechanism to put your evidence-based results into practice. Cover the necessary changes to existing protocols, procedures, and techniques. You should also list the financial, educational, and other requirements these changes will entail and the resulting adoption limitations. 

6. Conclusion

The final section of the paper is a brief reiteration of the core ideas and points of your paper. You should restate the PICOT question and highlight its relevance, briefly go over your research methodology, and discuss the conclusions you’ve drawn from the study findings from primary research. Implementation recommendations and limitations also have a place in the conclusion.

7. References

Look up the latest edition of the APA guidelines and format the reference list accordingly. You can use automatic online citation generators, like BibMe or Mendeley, but we urge you to double-check each entry before adding it to your paper. Some mistakes are possible, especially with recent publications and books that have gone through several editions.

Evidence-Based Practice Paper Template for Nursing

If your professor does not provide instructions on the structure, you can use the following evidence-based practice paper template. Remember to alter it to fit your assignment, topic, and class.

1. Introduction 
1. Background of the Problem 
2. PICOT Question
3. Definition of Concepts 
2. Body
1. Literature Search Methods 
2. Critical Appraisal of Literature 
3. Synthesis of the Literature Findings
4. Discussion and Recommendations
3. Conclusion
4. References

Evidence-based Practice Nursing Paper Example

There’s no universal way to complete this assignment, as every PICOT question is unique and requires evidence research and synthesis. Still, it helps to skim an evidence-based practice paper sample to get a better idea of what this assignment entails. Below you’ll find an evidence-based DNP project.

Improving Preceptor Skills Utilizing the One Minute Preceptor

Final Thoughts

Of course, this short guide isn’t the ultimate tutorial on how to write an evidence-based paper, but we tried to provide actionable tips and tricks our professional writers use. If you still feel out of your depth, let our experts take over this assignment. We’ll match you with the best-suited writer among hundreds on our payroll to ensure you get a top-grade paper on time.