MSN 563 newest edition 2022/2023

Week 8 Discussion - Research and Evidence-Based Practice Understanding and appropriately using definitions is an essential factor in the everyday application of knowledge and comprehension. However, in nursing and healthcare, it is imperative that professionals utilizing and applying key terms in the routine administration of patient care, while in the pursuit of professional advancement, research advancement, and clinical application improvements have a full understanding and express knowledge that will help to lead to quality patient care outcomes. Nursing is a highly-respected profession, and as is true in many other professions in healthcare, we set standards based on shared knowledge, scientific evidence, and understanding developed from research (Beulow, 2008). Nurses' roles in healthcare is continuously evolving – nurses inhabit the workforce in many capacities; no longer are they just in hospitals or clinical settings. Nurses are in the classroom, the community, entrepreneurs in the business and clinical sectors, laboratories, technology, research, law, and legislation. While the settings that nurses inhabit and the responsibilities that they have may be different from the traditional definitions historically associated with nursing, the professional nurse's primary goal remains the same no matter what the venue or expanded role responsibility. Nurses seek to provide optimal quality care that is evidence-based, patient-specific, and advocate for the patients entrusted to their care, giving them a voice and the tools to make decisions in navigating their own care. Two critical applications fuel the primary goal of nursing. Two terms that are sometimes used interchangeably but have totally different meanings and processes are nursing research (NR) and evidence-based practice (EBP). As we close out this course that has engaged us in a wealth of knowledge regarding different research methods and the importance of nurses in research, this author will provide the distinction between these two terms