Determining the Credibility of Evidence and Resources

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is essential in modern nursing to enhance clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive respiratory condition, significantly impacts patients’ quality of life and demands evidence-based interventions for optimal care. Nurses must evaluate the credibility of resources and apply structured EBP models to ensure effective, patient-centered care. This paper evaluates COPD management and criteria for determining resource credibility and analyzes evidence to integrate findings into the Iowa Model of EBP: Determining the Credibility of Evidence and Resources.

Description of the Chosen Diagnosis That Could Benefit from an Evidence-Based Approach

COPD is a chronic condition marked by persistent airflow limitation, often caused by smoking or exposure to environmental pollutants. COPD is a major global illness that impacts more than 200 million people and is responsible for the increase in mortality and expenditure on health costs. Patients present to the hospital with dyspnea, chronic cough, and fatigue, which result in frequent readmissions and poor quality of life (Agarwal et al., 2023). Pulmonary rehabilitation, bronchodilators, and oxygen therapy have been found to decrease lengths of stay in the hospital and increase overall functional status.

However, variations in clinical practices necessitate the adoption of EBP to ensure uniform, effective interventions. COPD is also characterized by co-morbid conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, meaning that its management needs to be well-informed by empirical data to offer holistic care. With COPD, EBP empowers the nurses to optimize the patients’ quality and hence the outcome, minimize the costs incurred and apply only the best practices grounded on research.

Criteria to Determine Credibility of Resources

Several criteria are considered key in establishing the credibility of resources. First, the credentials of the author and institutional affiliations are important. Resources authored by subject-matter experts or reputable organizations, such as the American Lung Association (ALA), are highly reliable. Second, the reputation of the source is critical; peer-reviewed journals, for example, such as those indexed in PubMed or CINAHL, ensure that the material has been rigorously appraised and validated by experts.

Another vital aspect is evidence currency. Most healthcare fields are rapidly changing, and their research evidence, especially those published within the last five years, is required. Fourth, avoiding bias and objectivity are concerns because credible resources avoid conflict of interest and give balanced perspectives with transparent funding. Lastly, the strength of evidence is a crucial factor. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and RCTs are considered to offer reliable and actionable findings (Chang et al., 2023).

Analysis of the Credibility and Relevance of Evidence

Some of the resources discussed include an assessment of sources about the management of COPD. CINAHL is an exclusive source of peer-reviewed literature in the field of nursing, covering areas such as pulmonary rehabilitation and pharmacology. The Cochrane Library is reputable for its series of systematic reviews providing evidence for empowering practice, including bronchodilators, smoking cessation programs, and other interventions (Daraz & Bouseh, 2021).

Additionally, the CDC improves COPD care through access to accurate epidemiological information and physician COPD treatment guidelines, among others. The American Lung Association (ALA) is more of an advocacy organization as it aims to educate the patient on better ways to manage the condition. Of these, the Cochrane Library can be considered as yielding the strongest evidence, especially where establishing the efficacy of pulmonary rehabilitation to enhance the quality of life was concerned.

Evidence-Based Practice Model

The Iowa Model of EBP provides a structured framework for integrating evidence into COPD management, ensuring systematic evaluation and implementation of interventions. The readmission rates and patients’ dissatisfaction serve as signals of special concern and emerging change opportunities. Nurse-physician collaboration seen with pulmonary physicians and therapists emphasizes cooperatively developed client care plans.

Using critical evaluation of high-impact databases such as the Cochrane Library and CINAHL, the strength and relevance of these several kinds of therapies in COPD are assessed (Duff et al., 2020). Physician-initiated pilots of interventions like smoking cessation or oxygen therapy help in fine-tuning and determining the feasibility of an idea. Last, through protocol development with constant evaluation and integration, best practice gaps and research to practice are closed.

Conclusion

The issues of chronic diseases such as COPD can only be managed appropriately if credible evidence is utilized. By achieving the reintroduction of rigorous evaluation criteria as well as integrating data into the Iowa Model of EBP, nurses are well-placed to improve patient outcomes and reduce variability in nursing care. Accordingly, this approach not only affects areas that are not addressed in clinical practice but also promotes the formation of an attitude toward continuous improvement and professionalism.

References

Agarwal, A. K., Raja, A., & Brown, B. D. (2023, August 7). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). National Library of Medicine; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559281/

Chang, L., Li, W., Xin, X., & Wang, J. (2023). Strategies for assessing health information credibility among older social media users in China: A qualitative study. Health Communication, 67(98), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2288372

Daraz, L., & Bouseh, S. (2021). Developing a quality benchmark for determining the credibility of web health information- a protocol of a gold standard approach. Frontiers in Digital Health, 3(78). https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2021.801204

Duff, J., Cullen, L., Hanrahan, K., & Steelman, V. (2020). Determinants of an evidence-based practice environment: An interpretive description. Implementation Science Communications, 1(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-020-00070-0

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Develop a 2-4 page scholarly paper in which you describe the diagnosis you researched for the previous assessment, and then identify and analyze credible evidence that could be used as the basis for applying EBP to the issue.

Introduction
The goal of using evidence-based research findings is to enhance safety and quality of patient care and ensure optimal outcomes are achieved. It is not uncommon to hear a nurse say, “why change it as we’ve always done it this way.” However, this is no longer acceptable in today’s practice environment. The profession of nursing has evolved, and the expectation is that the professional nurse has a scientific foundation to support the care that is provided.

As the profession of nursing continues to evolve and engage in health care transformation, baccalaureate-prepared nurses are expanding taking on leadership roles that include incorporating EBPs. To be able to do this, the nurse needs to understand the criteria and makes a resource credible, as this is crucial when deciding if the research is valid and reliable for implementation into health care settings. The nurse will need to incorporate the use of evidence-based practice models.

EBP models are designed to assist the nurse in developing a plan to gather evidence to answer a practice problem or question. It is a systematic approach to direct the user to incorporate scholarly findings into current practice. These EBP models lead the nurse through the decision-making process of evaluating the literature to determine the best practice evidence for the practice issue or question.

It would be an excellent choice to complete the Vila Health Determining the Credibility of Evidence activity prior to developing the report. The activity is a media simulation that offers an opportunity to review a scenario and work on determining the credibility of presented evidence.

These skills will be necessary to complete Assessment 2 successfully. This media simulation is one potential source of context on which to base your assessment submission. This will take just a few minutes of your time and is not graded.

Professional Context
As a baccalaureate-prepared nurse, you will be responsible for locating and identifying credible and scholarly resources to incorporate the best available evidence for the purposes of enhancing clinical reasoning and judgement skills.

When reliable and relevant evidence-based findings are utilized, patients, health care systems, and nursing practice outcomes are positively impacted.

Scenario
For this assessment, use the specific diagnosis/health issue you selected for the first assessment.

Instructions
The purpose of this analysis is to better understand what constitutes credibility of journal articles as well as websites. The role of the baccalaureate-prepared nurse in incorporating evidence-based research continues to growth in clinical practice. As quality improvement (QI) measures to reduce safety risks continue to be emphasized, the need for evidence-based models and evidence-based templates is growing.

This type of systematic approach to incorporating evidence-based findings allows nurses to make clinical and operational decisions based upon the best available evidence. When the most up-to-date evidence-based findings are utilized, patient-centered care improves outcomes and enhances the patient experience.

Below is a quick review table of several well-known Evidence-Based Practice Models used to guide exploration:

Evidence-Based Practice Models
Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice
Stetler Model
Ottawa Model
PARiHS (Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services) Model
ACE (Academic Center for Evidence-Based Practice) Star Model
ARCC (Advancing Research and Clinical Practice Through Close Collaboration) Mode
John Hopkins Model
KTA (Knowledge-to-Action) Model

For this assessment:

• Explain the criteria that should be used when determining the credibility of journal articles as well as websites.
• Support your explanations with references to the literature or research articles that describe criteria that should be used to determine credibility.
• Your identification and determination of credibility should be done within the context of your chosen diagnosis for this assessment. Your initial identification of resources should be of resources that will best help address the presented diagnosis you selected.Since you are locating resources to help provide evidence-based care for the diagnosis/health care issue you identified in the first assessment, you may want to begin your literature and evidence search from the databases that were identified.

Be sure to address the following in this assessment, which correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Please study the scoring guide carefully so that you will know what is needed for a distinguished score.

• Describe a chosen diagnosis that could benefit from an evidence-based approach.
• Explain criteria that should be considered when determining credibility of resources such as journal articles and websites.
• Analyze the credibility and relevance of evidence and resources within the context of a chosen diagnosis.
  • This is where you are selecting the specific resources to help address the diagnosis you selected for the first assessment.
• Identify the Evidence-Based Practice model and explain the importance of incorporating credible evidence into the EBP model used to address a chosen diagnosis. Review the literature below and choose the appropriate model for your diagnosis.
  • Selecting a model for evidence-based practice changes. [PDF] and Evidence-Based Practice Models help explain the various evidence-based nursing models.
• Communicate using writing that is clear, logical, and professional with correct grammar and spelling using current APA style.

Additional Requirements
Your assessment should meet the following requirements:

• Length of submission: 2-4-page scholarly paper, this does not include the APA-formatted title page and reference list.
• Number of references: Cite 3-5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your findings and considerations. Resources should be no more than five years old.
• APA formatting: References and citations are formatted according to current APA style.

Portfolio Prompt: Remember to save the final assessment to your ePortfolio so that you may refer to it as you complete the final capstone course.

Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 2: Analyze the relevance and potential effectiveness of evidence when making a decision.
  • Explain criteria that should be considered when determining credibility of resources such as journal articles and websites.
  • Analyze the credibility and relevance of evidence and resources within the context of a quality or safety issue, or a chosen diagnosis.
• Competency 3: Apply an evidence-based practice model to address a practice issue.
  • Identify an evidence-based practice model (such as Iowa, Stetler, John Hopkins, etc.) and explain the importance of incorporating credible evidence into an EBP model used to address a quality or safety issue, or a chosen diagnosis/health care issue.
• Competency 4: Plan care based on the best available evidence.
  • Describe a quality or safety issue, or a chosen diagnosis, that could benefit from an evidence-based approach.
• Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly communication strategies to lead practice changes based on evidence.
  • Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions; contains few errors in grammar/punctuation, word choice, and spelling.
  • Apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references exhibiting nearly flawless adherence to APA format.