BY DAY 3 OF WEEK 1
Post a brief introduction, including your current or previous role in nursing practice. Describe any previous experience with nursing research. Be specific. Then, explain any previous experience or familiarity with EBP and explain whether your current organization supports EBP. Be specific and provide examples.
BY DAY 6 OF WEEK 1
Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by expanding upon your colleague’s post or suggesting an additional alternative perspective on EBP.
My name is Kimberly Riley. I was born into a family of 7 (not including my parents) in Titusville, Pennsylvania. This town was where the first commercial oil well production started. My grandfather became a famous poet by writing about the oil well and surrounding city. I moved to Pittsburgh, PA, in the 80s to complete my BSN nursing degree at Carlow University. Also, I acquired my master’s in nursing through the University of Phoenix’s online program. I have been a nurse for over 25 years. Throughout my career, I have specialized in the mental health field. I have worked in residential settings for children displaced due to mental illness and behavioral issues. I have worked for a health plan as a care manager with high-risk patients, supporting their linkage to healthcare resources via telephone. Currently, I am working as an inpatient psychiatric nurse at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital on an adult floor that provides acute treatment for a variety of psychiatric diagnoses (i.e., depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, dementia, substance use).
Nursing research is not new to my experience. As a care manager, I was involved in developing a training program to support nurse care managers in identifying patients experiencing mental health concerns, identifying patient resources, and linking patients to services. A survey was developed to determine the care managers’ perception of their readiness to perform the PHQ 9-Patient Health Questionnaire to assess depression, resource knowledge, and ways to link to services. Staff identified they were uncomfortable completing the form but did know how to connect to services and what resources were available. I trained care managers on the assessment and what to do with the findings. The training was a success, and more patients were screened for depression and other disorders.
Evidence-based practice improves outcomes by evaluating and assessing nursing interventions (White, 2021, p. 77). At UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, evidence-based practice is the standard of care to treat patients. UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital is a teaching facility. Several different research and evidence-based practice programs occur at any given time. For example, the medication ketamine is being explored for use in major depression. Ketamine is believed to react in the brain to make new connections to improve depression thoughts. Some of my patients are participating in the study, and all the requirements for research are being followed. Another example of EBP that I am involved in is regarding maladaptive interventions to address non-adherence to medication and aggression. A PMHNP provided training on partnering with patients to work on medication adherence and management of aggression without the use of coercion. However, the staff needed help considering using forms to partner with the patient to improve treatment outcomes. As noted in the article by Jorgensen et al., healthcare professionals’ readiness to change and attitudes toward interventions must be considered (Jergensen, 2019, p. 40). I noted that most staff felt that the intervention would not work due to the acuity of the unit, and the time needed to review the form with the patient was an issue. I am going to continue to support her endeavors to improve patient outcomes.
References
Gary, J. G. (2020). Burns and Grove’s the practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence. St. Louis: Elsevier.
Jergensen, R. C. (2019). The deadlock of saying “That is what we already do!” A thematic analysis of mental health care professionals’ reactions to using an evidence-based intervention. Journal of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, 39-48.
White, K. D.-B. (2021). Translation of evidence into nursing and healthcare. New York: Springer Publishing Company, LLC.