Evidence Based Practice

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Nursing practices need to mirror the constantly evolving world of life, and this is made possible by evidence-based practice. Evidence-Based Practice is the achievement of optimal patient care through the application of scientific data. Using evidence-based practice can be as intuitive as ambulating a patient that has a high risk for deep vein thrombosis, or as complex as recognizing the risks of prescribing a long-term anticoagulant to a high-risk geriatric patient. This type of practice has proven to increase positive outcomes, decrease hospital costs, and promote the autonomy of patients and nurses (ANA, 2023). In addition to these positive outcomes, evidence-based practice creates a high, universal standard for all healthcare organizations and workers. For example, evidence-based practice can be applied to …show more content…
Deep vein thrombosis can cause a variety of complications in a patient’s condition including loss of function, swelling, and pain in the affected extremity, and if the clot dislodges and becomes an embolism, it can travel to the lungs and become a pulmonary embolism; these complications can be fatal (CDC, 2023). While patients experiencing major surgery or trauma are at high risk for abnormal clot formation, they are at low VTE recurrence risk. There are three categories of circumstances that determine a patient’s risk level based on what provoked their first development: major transient risk, transient or reversible risk, and persistent risk or no identifiable risk factors. An example of a major transient risk for the development of VTE is a major surgery or a period of immobility in the hospital. If a VTE develops during this event, there is a relatively low risk for recurrence of a VTE(Ainle&Kevane, 2020). Transient or reversible factors such as pregnancy or estrogen therapy are categorized as a case of intermediate risk of