Evidence-based nursing: scope review

Abstract

Objective:

To identify the scientific evidence on the concept, development and function of Evidence-Based Nursing (EBN) and to critically analyze this tool, its facilitating elements and barriers for implementation. Material and Method: Scoping review according to the proposal of the Joanna Briggs Institute. The period between 1997 and 2019 was considered to retrieve articles and reviews in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Medical Subject Headings thesaurus descriptors and Boolean operators were used to apply search strategies in 4 databases: Pubmed, EBSCOhost, Scopus, Science Direct. The search was complemented with the snowball technique applied to the reference list of the relevant selected articles. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Español (CASPE) was used to assess the validity and impact of the articles review and qualitative results, and the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) was used for the observational studies. To establish the levels of evidence, The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTPFCHC) was used. Results: Out of 163,074 initial manuscripts, 44 were selected for analysis and data extraction regarding history of EBN; concept and function of EBN; stages, barriers and facilitators. Conclusions: The concept of EBN highlights the need to use this tool to plan nursing care through critical and reflective thinking; the importance of providing direct patient care and promoting care based on the best evidence, in a context of humanization and considering the tool’s barriers and facilitators.