The principles of evidence-based practice in nursing enable professionals to make optimal decisions about patient care. When nurses integrate the best available science into their practice and professionalism, they work from a holistic, patient-centered approach. Let’s explore the importance of evidence-based practice in nursing and how it’s used, as well as its benefits for patients, nurses and institutions.
What Is Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing?1
So, what is evidence-based nursing practice? It is a method that involves delivering holistic, high-quality care grounded in the latest research and evidence, rather than relying on tradition, peer advice, or personal beliefs. Although there is no precise standard for what constitutes evidence-based practice in nursing, the approach consists of three main components and five basic steps.
What Are the 3 Components of Evidence-Based Practice?1
If you are a registered nurse (RN) who wants to make decisions according to nursing evidence-based practice, use these three components:1
- Best external evidence: Evaluate and implement the most current, clinically relevant, and scientifically sound research. Read on to learn more about the types of research.
- Individual clinical expertise: Draw on your personal experience of what has worked and not worked in your clinical practice.
- Patient values and expectations: Consider and value the preferences of your patients.
What Types of Research Are Used in Evidence-Based Nursing Practice?
Levels of nursing evidence-based practice can be grouped into seven categories.2 These categories, or levels, include:
- Evidence from a systematic review or meta-analysis of all relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or evidence-based clinical practice guidelines based on a systematic review of RCTs or three or more RCTs of decent quality with comparable results
- Evidence obtained from at least one well-designed RCT
- Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization
- Evidence from well-designed case-control or cohort studies
- Evidence from a systematic review of descriptive and qualitative studies (meta-syntheses)
- Evidence from a single or descriptive or qualitative study
- Evidence from the opinion of authorities or reports of expert committees
You can glean useful information from any of these types of healthcare research but strive to make decisions based on the most credible science available.
What Are the 5 Steps of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, there are five steps in the process of implementing evidence-based nursing practice.3 Also known as the ”Five A’s of Evidence-based Practice in Health Science,” these steps include:
- Ask: Formulate answerable clinical questions about a patient, problem, intervention or outcome.
- Acquire: Search for relevant evidence to answer questions.
- Appraise: Determine whether the evidence is high-quality and valuable.
- Apply: Make clinical decisions utilizing the best available evidence.
- Assess: Evaluate the outcome of applying the evidence to the patient’s situation.
Some healthcare organizations choose to add a sixth part to the steps of evidence-based practice in nursing – disseminate – to the cycle.4 When you share your own research and evidence with colleagues, this supports the widespread use of evidence-based practice in nursing. You can disseminate knowledge by communicating the information directly to fellow practitioners, publishing in peer-reviewed journals or professional newsletters or presenting at conferences.
Benefits of Evidence-Based Nursing Practice
Nursing evidence-based practices have proven to lead to better patient, provider and institutional outcomes, such as more consistent care and reduced costs.5
Benefits to the field of nursing include:
- Prioritizing the needs of patients. Although evidence-based nursing practice relies on research, it also considers the desires of individual patients. Since one of the main tenets of nursing is focusing on the patient’s needs, evidence-based nursing practice helps you continue to improve patient outcomes while weighing the preferences and experiences of each patient.
- Better patient care decisions that save nurses time. Evidence-based nursing practice can save time as you stop engaging in activities that have no known benefit to patients.
Evidence-based practice in nursing also keeps practices current and relevant, increasing nurses’ confidence and decision-making skills and contributing to the science of the profession.2
Examples of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing1
Through evidence-based nursing practice, RNs have improved the care they deliver to patients. Enhancing patient care starts with asking how you can create a safer, more compassionate and personalized experience. Evidence-based practice in nursing examples include:1
- Use of oxygen to help with hypoxia and organ failure in patients with COPD
- Management of angina
- Protocols regarding alarm fatigue
- Recognition of a family member’s influence on a patient’s presentation of symptoms
- Noninvasive measurement of blood pressure in children
When you apply scientific evidence to your nursing practice, it helps you deliver high-quality, safe care—and it improves outcomes for patients, your workplace and your career. If you are studying to become a nurse or a nurse practitioner (NP), you can expect to learn how to evaluate research, make informed decisions and deliver the best care possible. At the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS), coursework in our graduate nursing programs—the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)—is dedicated to the nursing evidence-based practice process.
The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) offers a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) and Post-Graduate Nursing Certificates designed for working nurses. Our degrees are offered online, with optional on-campus immersions.* Role specialties include Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)** and Nurse Executive. The MSN and DNP have options to accelerate your time to degree completion. Earn your advanced nursing degree while keeping your work and life in balance.
*The FNP role specialty includes one required hands-on clinical intensive as part of the curriculum.
**The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner role specialty is not available for the DNP program.
Sources
- “What is Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing?,” American Nurses Association (ANA) Nursing Resources Hub, June 1, 2023, https://www.nursingworld.org/content-hub/resources/workplace/evidence-based-practice-in-nursing/.
- Brunt, B. and Morris, M., “Nursing Professional Development Evidence-Based Practice,” Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls, January 2025, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK589676.
- Cleveland Clinic, “Evidence-Based Practice: Nursing: What is EBP?” Cleveland Clinic, May 15, 2025, https://my.clevelandclinic.libguides.com/nursingebp.
- Barría, P RM., “Nursing Research, Dissemination of Knowledge and its Potential Contribution to the Practice,” Investigación y Educación en Enfermería, February 8, 2023, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10017141/.
- Kathleen Williamson, “Why evidence-based practice?,” Wolters Kluwer, September 16, 2022, https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/expert-insights/why-evidencebased-practice.
