CFBC RESEARCH CONFERENCE UNDERSCORES THE IMPORTANCE OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE IN NURSING

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 12, 2022 (SKNIS): The Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) is continuing to make remarkable strides in its advancements as an educational institution with the opening ceremony of a research conference on May 10, 2022.  

Presenter at the opening ceremony, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, spoke about the importance of the research conference and in particular the effect of evidence-based practice in nursing.

“Evidence-based practice is simply the utilization of the most current, highest quality scientific evidence to make informed patient care decisions,” said Dr. Laws.

There are three main components of evidence-based practice, which are the utilization of the best external evidence, the integration of this information with the nurses’ clinical expertise and consideration of the patient factors, she said.

She also said that the nursing students must possess competencies and skills to appraise the literature and evaluate its validity then implement the most current, clinically relevant, and scientifically sound research in their work.

“The nurses are also asked to draw on his or her experience of what has worked and not worked in clinical practice and the nurse must always value the patients’ needs and preferences in so doing,” the Chief Medical Officer said.

Dr. Laws also stated that some benefits of evidence-based practice to the field of nursing are that it ensures that the needs of patients are prioritized in the delivery of care; it facilitates better patient decisions that also save the time of the nurses; it helps nurses apply validated interventions which are key components of exceptional patient care; it helps keep nursing practice current and relevant, increasing nursing confidence and decision-making skills; and it also improves patient outcome. 

“Evidence-based practice proved to be a game-changer in the fight against COVID-19,” she said, stating that here in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, “We relied on the best available evidence coupled with the health experience from our local practitioners, patient preferences and of course our local context.”

 “The best available evidence guided our approach to the management of patients with moderate to severe COVID and we were successful in containing four waves of COVID-19 infections,” she added.
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