It goes without saying that evidence-based practice (EBP) should support quality health care, however, a competent nurse should know how to identify the most appropriate evidence for implementation and use it in practice. For this, several theoretical models of EBP may be applied, and one of them is the Stetler Model. Initially focused on research utilization, in the present day, this model fits in the EBP paradigm helping health care providers assess the rationale of evidence and research findings for patient-centered health care delivery (Indra, 2018). The Stetler Model includes five major steps, which are the following:
- Preparation. The purpose, context, and sources of an EBP project should be identified.
- Validation. The quality and reliability of sources for their acceptance or rejection should be evaluated.
- Decision-Making. The acceptability and feasibility of the evidence findings’ summary should be defined.
- Application. The algorithm for findings’ application should be developed.
- Evaluation. The outcomes of the implementation of evidence should be assessed to decide whether the EBP goals were achieved.
The application of the Stetler Model has multiple reasons – first of all, it encourages nurses’ critical thinking in relation to what evidence should be used. In addition, it improves clinicians’ understanding of the main principles of work with evidence and research findings – thus, the most appropriate evidence is used for the avoidance of clinical errors. The application of the Stetler Model is frequently described in research – for instance, it was used by Parach et al. (2018) for the evaluation of patient outcomes after the removal of the arterial sheath in the case of undergoing angioplasty. Clinicians evaluated the benefits of removal, determining the rationale of the project (preparation), review reliable articles (validation), discussed the intervention with health care professionals (decision-making), design guidelines on the basis of nurses’ training for execution (application), and monitored patients’ wellbeing to assess outcomes and validity of EBP (evaluation).
References
Indra, V. (2018). A review on models of evidence-based practice. Asian Journal of Nursing Education and Research, 8(4), 549-552.
Parach, A., Sadeghi-Ghahroudi, M., Saeid, Y., & Ebadi, A. (2018). The effect of evidence-based care guidelines on outcomes after removal of arterial sheath in patients undergoing angioplasty. Arya Atherosclerosis, 14(6), 237-241. Web.