Evidence-Based Practice: Home

EBP is the conscientious and judicious use of:

• The best research evidence (found in health sciences literature)
• Clinical expertise (what the provider knows)
• Patient values and expectations (what the patient believes and wants)

Evidence Based Practice is an umbrella term that includes medicine ("Evidence-Based Medicine," or EBM), nursing, dentistry, public health, etc.

Steps of Evidence-Based Practice:

1. ASK patient-oriented, relevant, answerable questions about the health status and context of patients or populations
2. ACQUIRE the best available evidence to answer the question
3. APPRAISE the evidence critically for validity and applicability to the problem at hand
4. APPLY the evidence by engaging in collaborative health decision-making with the patient(s) or population(s)
5. ASSESS not just the patient outcome, but your performance in this process.  How can you improve?

Evidence Cycle Description from the Duke Program on Teaching Evidence-Based Practice