What is the hospitalized patient's place in evidence-based practice? (Select all that apply.)

Question

a. The patient is the recipient of the total of formal research evidence and the nurse's practice wisdom, and these represent the patient's care plan.
b. The patient brings values to the clinical encounter, which the nurse considers in providing evidence-based care.
c. The patient provides a valuable source of knowledge, since each patient cared for contributes to the nurse's total practice wisdom.
d. The patient is the focus of research. The patient serves both as a recipient of evidence-based research and the subject of future evidence, based on data collected now from the patient.
e. The patient may always refuse to participate—in evidence-based care, in therapies, in research participation—and this refusal must be honored.

Answer 1

ANS: B, C, E
Because reality can vary with perception, and because the facts can be relative, nurses do not impose their views on patients. Rather, nurses help patients seek health from within the patients' worldviews. This is a critical component of evidence-based practice. The nurse's individual wisdom is based upon the nurse's actual practice, over time.