Reflection on Learning April 7
Leonard1988
week7EvidenceTranslationandChange1.docx5
Evidence Translation and Change
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Evidence Translation and Change
The investigative research on the impact of nursing short staffing in cancer facilities and the strategies that can be adopted to resolve the problem highlighted significant evidence that can help transform the healthcare system by modifying the processes used in care delivery. However, to effectively adopt the identified solution, there is a need to assimilate the compiled evidence into nursing practice. Incorporating evidence into practice is not a smooth process (Curtis et al., 2017). There are significant implicit and explicit barriers that may derail the process. Subsequently, new evidence may also arise that may give cause doubts about which specific evidence to incorporate. This essay analyzes the process of translating evidence into practice in implementing the necessary changes in organizations and their impact on patient outcomes.
Common Barriers to Evidence Translation
The individual characteristics of healthcare providers may hinder the translation of evidence into practice in a clinical setting. Although they are equipped with skills to translate and apply evidence, some professionals may fail to utilize the skills to enhance their standards of care (White et al., 2019). The failure of the professionals to practice may derail patients from experiencing positive effects of the compiled evidence. Hence, the cancer patients do not receive the standard care they need to improve the outcome of their treatment such as adequate management of pain. Healthcare organizations may also become barriers to the translation of evidence to practice. They may fail to provide the resources needed to incorporate the evidence into the nursing practice (Mathieson et al., 2019). For example, they may fail to provide the funds required to train the personnel while applying the task-shifting process to address nurse staffing shortages in medical facilities. As a result, the professionals fail to receive the skills needed to apply evidence into practice successfully. When the expertise needed to provide evidence based care is absent, the patients do not receive the care they need to elicit positive outcomes. Subsequently, they do not recuperate promptly and their costs of treatment are inflated due to prolonged hospital stays.
Strategies for Identifying New Evidence
The strategies that can be applied to become aware of new evidence include listening to presentations in healthcare seminars about the findings of recently conducted studies. Subsequently, the new evidence can also be acquired by reading journals that have documented content on the topic to determine the strategies that have been proven to effectively address the issue of short staffing (White et al., 2019). Further, joining professional organizations such as ANA is also a practical approach that individuals can use to be updated on the strategies that have been used successfully to manage staffing issues. The information that the professionals gain from these settings nurses new ideas about the evidence that they can apply into the nursing practice and improve patient outcomes. For example, they can help in deducing the best practices to use in minimizing the risk of contracting bed sores in long term care patients.
How to Determine which Evidence to Implement
The healthcare providers can determine the evidence to implement in addressing short staffing in cancer patients' care by analyzing the effects that each approach has on the patient population. The healthcare providers can investigate and deduce which of the available evidence helps disseminate quality care that elicits positive outcomes in the cancer patient (Mathieson et al., 2019). For example, they can identify which strategies ensure that the duration that the patients are hospitalized are significantly reduced or that which helps reduce the discomfort they face due to pain. The outcomes that are noted in the patient population are a significant factor in the gauging the effectiveness of selected evidence because the ailing individuals are the main beneficiaries of the change process.
How to Ensure Continuity /Sustainability of the Implemented Change
The strategies that can be used to ensure continuity or sustainability of implemented changes include presenting the evidence to key stakeholders in a medical facility to support the implementation of evidence into practice. The knowledge that the evidence will elicit positive healthcare outcomes will make them insist on their incorporation (White et al., 2019). Subsequently, it is also necessary to solicit policy changes to ensure that the evidence is adopted as an essential process in the nursing practice and used extensively to enhance nursing practice in diverse settings. The process will ensure that the implemented changes are encapsulated into the culture of the organizations and become part of the day to day care of patients. As a result, the ailing individuals continually receive high standards of care which increase their chances of recuperating faster, and being contented with the services they receive. Subsequently, it will reduce the length patients have to wait before receiving treatment, reduce the number of days they stay in hospital and reduce the cost of treatment.
Conclusion
Evidence translation is a necessary step in ensuring that the required changes are made to healthcare organizations to address short staffing in cancer units. Barriers may arise that may impede the process of translating evidence into practice which should be identified and resolved. It is also necessary to scrutinize other new evidence and determine which is the most appropriate to the issue at hand. The processes ensure that patients benefit from the accrued evidence and elicit positive outcomes from the treatment process.
References
Curtis, K., Fry, M., Shaban, R. Z., & Considine, J. (2017). Translating research findings to clinical nursing practice. Journal of clinical nursing, 26(5-6), 862-872.
Mathieson, A., Grande, G., & Luker, K. (2019). Strategies, facilitators and barriers to implementation of evidence-based practice in community nursing: a systematic mixed-studies review and qualitative synthesis. Primary health care research & development, 20.
