Evidence-Based Practice

Evidence-based practice is a problem-solving approach to clinical and patient preferences, also defined as the spirit of inquiry, where the ongoing curiosity about the best evidence, guide clinical decision making. Formulating a clinical question in a systematic way makes easier to find an answer quickly and efficient, leading to improved processes and patient outcomes. Nursing practice is very dynamic because new information coming from new studies, practice, social issues and technology advance.
The next step in evidence base practice is conducting the search , and this was done using literature regarding phone calls follow up on heart failure patients was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE, CINSAHL databases. Understanding the database

will help in finding the best evidence. Limiting the search to one database is not a good idea. Once obtained the results is important to appraise the research to determine the validity, reliability and applicability to practice (Maz, 15) that were used in this PICOT question. The key words used were phone call follow ups, discharge calls, medication reconciliation, plan and compliance, heart failure patients post discharge.
In the systematic review determining validity was very important to ensure how many RCTs were included. In the first finding, Kean Bornstein and O’Brien conducted a systematic reviews of 20 RCT, 3 were non-randomized and 6 different cohort studies to establish ambulatory programs and interventions that have proved to reduce hospital admissions and mortality in Heart Failure (HF) patients (Kean et al, 2013). Another component assessed in the study, was for the risk of Bias and error. The study was prone to error because the sample size of 416 patients in the intervention group, only 62 patients were recruited due to time limitations. And the reliability of the results for consistency and accuracy was reviewed based on the finding of the study, which determine than phone calls follow up, after discharge can be crucial to improve compliance and decreased readmission rates in less than 30 days post hospital discharge. Also applicability was take in consideration when determine if it was applicable to our patients to improve the outcomes or how will affect patients