Evidence Based Practice (EBP) is the cornerstone of professional nursing practice. It is what allows professional nurses to deliver cutting edge care after they have left their academic training. Evidence based clinical decision making brings the three components of EBP together:
To become an expert practitioner, you should concentrate on acquiring advanced skills in finding, assessing, analyzing, and synthesizing external evidence. You can then merge this data with your clinical and institutional knowledge and your patient's preferences to allow you to deliver the best care possible. The goal of learning Evidence Practice abilities is not just to develop your knowledge and skills, but to improve the care you give your patients throughout your career. This is knowledge that allows you to educate yourself: so hopefully you can always find that as Einstein said, "Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it."
Quick formula to remember what EBP is:
Grey Literature video tutorial: Overview on how to locate and evaluate grey literature (conference proceedings, organizations, government documents, & learning commons).
Google Search Operators: Use Google search operators to refine or limit your internet results when searching for grey literature.
APA Reference Example: Conference Proceeding
APA Reference Example: Webpage on a Website
GreyNet International: This is an international organization that seeks to identify and distribute information on and about grey literature. It includes resources on what grey literature is as well as databases.
MedlinePlus: Guide to healthy web surfing.
WorldCat: A searchable catalogue of library collections around the world including lots of grey literature.
Grey Literature Report: A monthly update on the new grey literature in health services research.
Open Grey: This is a searchable database of European grey literature on Science, Technology, Biomedical Science, Economics, Social Science and Humanities.