Nursing Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Nursing, including details on health care, hospital staff, professional care.

Making evidence based practice a reality for mental health nursing.

Cleary M, Freeman A, Walter G, Hunt GE

Research Unit, Sydney South West (Eastern Zone) Area Mental Health Service, Rozelle, New South Wales.

In recent years, efforts have been directed towards making mental health nursing more evidence-based. Making evidence based practice (EBP) a reality in modern health services requires due attention to service planning and management. It is acknowledged that there are many challenges and barriers to implementing EBP as outlined in this article. However, by using an example from our mental health service and drawing upon the literature, we show that a variety of techniques can be used to incorporate EBP into everyday practice. A combination of approaches is recommended, including education and training, leadership programs, research units, dissemination of research findings and structural changes to draw upon the expertise of key clinical, education, management and research staff.

Published 5 January 2006 in Contemp Nurse, 20(2): 278-89.
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