UPDATE (5/20/26 @ 7:30am AZ time):
The GCU Library's updated version of LopeCat, the library’s online catalog, is live! For more details on what has changed, visit the What's New Guide .
Nursing & Health Sciences: Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)
What is Evidence-Based Practice?
The practice of nursing in which the nurse makes clinical decisions on the basis of the best available current research evidence, his or her own clinical expertise, and the needs and preferences of the patient. (Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 2009, Elsevier)
On this page are resources for locating EBP sheets, guidelines, and other resources. For general research/empirical articles (quantitative or qualitative articles), please see the Empirical/Research Article page.
Support for evidence-based practice can come from systematic reviews, evidence-based practice sheets, evidence reviews, or guidance summary documents such as those produced for databases like Lippincott. New to Lippincott? Please view the Lippincott page first .
Different types of evidence are not treated equally. Higher quality evidence should be given more weight.
The Pyramid of Evidence:
What's Not in the Pyramid of Evidence?
There are some types of sources you may encounter that aren't on the pyramid of evidence. These sources may be useful for your understanding, but should not be cited as scientificevidence. Examples of these include: Blogs, magazine or new articles, and popular non-academic sites such as Wikipedia.
- These types of sources do not reflect primary research, nor are they an expert review of primary research the way clinical practice guidelines or systematic reviews are.
- They may refer to or summarize research articles. Locate the research article rather than cite a journalist's summary of it. Wikipedia will include linked citations to the original sources.
For more on the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly sources, visit the Evaluating Sources guide .
- What is Evidence-Based Practice? Video Series This link opens in a new windowA series of videos from OvidWoltersKluwer, the producers of the Joanna Briggs database, on the basics of evidence-based practice.
- Critical Appraisal Tools and Reporting Guidelines for Evidence-Based Practice This link opens in a new windowNurses engaged in evidence-based practice (EBP) have two important sets of tools: Critical appraisal tools and reporting guidelines.
- What is Evidence-Based Practice? - Tutorial from Duke University This link opens in a new window
This tutorial is intended for any health care practitioner or student who needs a basic introduction to the principles of evidence-based practice. Upon completion of this self-paced tutorial, you will be able to: Define evidence-based practice (EBP), identify the parts of a well-built clinical question, identify EBP searching strategies that could improve PubMed retrieval, identify key issues that help determine the validity of the results of a study. - Essentials of Evidence-Based Practice This link opens in a new windowThe purpose of this article is to provide the reader with essential elements of EBP through definition, to compare and contrast EBP and EBN, review historical development, barriers and gaps, and explore steps in how to translate evidence into to practice.
Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice Tools
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Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals: Model and Guidelines, Fifth Edition
by
ISBN: 9781646481880Publication Date: 2024-12-15
- The Johns Hopkins Nursing Center for Evidence-Based Practice This link opens in a new windowThe Johns Hopkins Nursing Center for Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) provides leadership, support, and training to assist clinicians in using the Johns Hopkins EBP model and bringing the best available evidence into practice.
Citation for tools: Dang, D., Dearholt, S., Bissett, K., Ascenzi, J., & Whalen, M. (2022). Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice for nurses and healthcare professionals: Model and guidelines . 4th ed. Sigma Theta Tau International.
The tools below reproduced with permission.
Evidence-Based Practice Library Databases
These databases are focused on evidence-based practice support.
- Cochrane Library This link opens in a new windowFull Text
The Cochrane Library is a collection of six databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making, and a seventh database that provides information about groups in the Cochrane Collaboration. Databases include: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (leading resource for systematic reviews in health care), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Methodology Register, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Health Technology Assessment Database, and NHS Economic Evaluation Database. - JBI Best Practice This link opens in a new windowFull Text
Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI), is a recognized global leader in evidence-based healthcare resources. The JBI Best Practice database includes more than 3,000 records across seven publication types. These types include Evidence Summaries, Evidence-Based Recommended Practices, Best Practice Information Sheets, Systematic Reviews, Consumer Information Sheets, Systematic Review Protocols, and Technical Reports. - Lippincott Advisor This link opens in a new windowFull Text
Lippincott Advisor is the single source for immediate, evidence-based, online nursing clinical-decision support. It delivers instant, 24/7 access to the latest evidence-based information that clinicians need at the point of care with over 17,000 monographs and patient teaching handouts. - Lippincott Procedures This link opens in a new windowFull Text
Lippincott Procedures provides instant, evidence-based procedure guidance at the point of care. With over 1,700 procedures and skills from a wide variety of nursing specialties including allied health, it combines the most trusted clinical content with powerful online workflow functionality that saves time, standardizes care, and delivers improved patient outcomes.
General Nursing Databases for Research Articles
These databases contain a variety of resource types, including reviews and primary research articles.
- CINAHL Ultimate This link opens in a new windowFull Text
CINAHL Ultimate is the definitive resource for nursing and allied health research, providing full text for more of the most used journals in the CINAHL index than any other database. It covers more than 50 nursing specialties, from ambulatory care and gerontologic nursing to physical therapy and psychiatric nursing. Also included are quick lessons, evidence-based care sheets, CEU modules, and research instruments. - PubMed This link opens in a new windowPubMed is a free database of more than 30 million citations for published articles in the fields of biomedicine and health. PubMed includes the MEDLINE® database; citations for articles in the PubMed Central (PMC) free full text archive, including articles that report on research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and citations for books from the NCBI online Bookshelf. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central, publisher websites, and the Library's subscriptions.
- Using PubMed in Evidence-Based Practice This link opens in a new windowThis training course will show you how to use evidence-based practice when searching clinical questions using PubMed.
Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines
- Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) Research Tools & Data This link opens in a new windowInformation on AHRQ Publications & Products, Research Findings & Reports, and access to EPC Evidence-Based Reports, and Statistical Briefs.
- ECRI Institute Guidelines Trust This link opens in a new windowWith the closure of the National Guidelines Clearinghouse website, the ECRI Institute created the ECRI Guidelines Trust TM, a publicly available web-based repository of objective, evidence-based clinical practice guideline content. Its purpose is to provide physicians, nurses, other clinical specialties, and members of the healthcare community with up-to-date clinical practices to advance safe and effective patient care. This centralized repository includes evidence-based guidance developed by nationally and internationally recognized medical organizations and medical specialty societies. **Click the Sign-Up Button to register for a free account**
- National Academy of Medicine This link opens in a new windowThe National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) is an independent, nonprofit organization that works outside of government to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public. Our aim is to help those in government and the private sector make informed health decisions by providing evidence upon which they can rely.
