Criteria Used in Determining Source Credibility
The analysis of a data source’s credibility is essential in determining the reliability of evidence that can be used to solve clinical problems. Primary sources of evidence are arranged in a hierarchy, with systemic reviews and meta-analyses at the top of the pyramid (Condron, 2021). Case reports are at the base of the pyramid. The top of the pyramid sources is considered more reliable than those at the pyramid’s base. Thus, evidence gathered from systemic reviews and meta-analyses is considered more reliable than evidence collected from case reports. While searching for data sources to be used in evidence-based practice, one needs to mainly focus on the primary sources at the top of the evidence pyramid. Evidence search was conducted through the Google Scholar database to identify the primary sources that matched the above conditions. The latest sources within the five years were selected.
Safety Clinical Problem
Patient falls in a hospital setting are experienced mainly among adults aged above 65 (Subermaniam et al., 2017). The falls have a disastrous impact on the patient, including causing body fractures, disabilities, memory loss, pain-causing injuries, and many other psychological problems. Patient falls generally worsen the health condition experienced by the patient. These hospital patient falls increase the total cost of treatment incurred by the hospitals. It leads to a wastage of resources used by the hospital. Patient falls are a safety concern issue that should be addressed in the hospital setting. The Lowa Model of EBP will be used in solving the identified clinical problem. Journal articles that should be selected for the clinical intervention of the situation should be mainly based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses, randomized control trials, and cohort studies. This clinical problem should be a top priority for hospitals to solve. It directly touches the lives of the elderly patients who need and deserve all the watchful care.
Interventions to the Clinical Problem
McCarty et al. (2018) argue that creating an educational program for the nurses will help to reduce patient falls in the emergency rooms. Emergency nurses play a crucial role in preventing patient fall cases in hospitals. In the education programs, various issues were raised by the nurses on the methods that can help reduce the falls among the patients. Bedside alarms were recommended by the nurses to be incorporated in the patient fall prevention program. Through these joint educational programs, the nurses feel like an essential part of preventing patient falls. Slade et al. (2017) is a meta-analysis study that focuses on the effectiveness of the fall intervention programs set by hospitals. The study found out that hourly safety rounds, patient education, and bedside alarms were among the most effective tools for preventing falls among the patients.
Subermaniam et al. (2017) is a randomized control study that discusses the effectiveness of bedside alarms in preventing patient falls. The alarms have a sensor that can detect the patient’s fall episodes and thus alert the nurse. The nurses arrive at the scene of the incident in time and thus reduce and prevent the disastrous complications brought about by patient falls. In Tucker et al. (2019), the authors discuss effective communication among team members to reduce falls among the patients. Effective leadership and effective use of resources can improve the various interventions to prevent patient falls in hospitals. Lack of effective communication among the relevant stakeholders in the hospitals increases the patient fall risks in the hospitals.
Importance of Incorporating Credible Evidence into an EBP Model
Incorporating credible evidence into an evidence-based model in patient-fall prevention is essential as it helps the hospital save resources in practicing relevant interventions (Slade et al., 2017). Through reliable data sources, the hospital can adopt the relevant and dependable information that could be put into practice to solve the clinical problem. It helps the hospital avoid adopting programs and interventions that can not effectively work for the hospital. The methods obtained through reliable data sources have been tested, found to be effective, and thus can be adopted by many hospitals worldwide to solve the same clinical problem. Information regarding the use of education programs for nurses and bedside alarms has been obtained from reliable data sources at the top of the hierarchy. It can be effective when implemented to solve the clinical problem in many hospitals across the world.
Incorporating credible evidence into the model also helps develop a better patient outcome (McCarty et al., 2018). Information obtained from credible data sources helps to come up with better interventions to solve the clinical problem. The interventions produce a better result for the patients. Adopting training nurses and bedside alarms lead to a general decrease in inpatient falls in the hospital. Evidence-based practice helps reduce and prevent a hospital’s chances of adopting measures that cannot help solve the clinical problem. Modern and updated interventions are chosen and help improve the level of physical and mental health of the patients. The up-to-date interventions will produce an effect of patients developing a positive mindset that a hospital is safe for their stay.
References
Condron, P. (2021). Library Guides: Systematic Reviews: 2: The research question. Unimelb.libguides.com. Web.
McCarty, C. A., Woehrle, T. A., Waring, S. C., Taran, A. M., & Kitch, L. A. (2018). Implementation of the MEDFRAT to Promote Quality Care and Decrease Falls in Community Hospital Emergency Rooms: JEN. Journal of Emergency
Slade, S. C., Carey, D. L., Hill, A. M., & Morris, M. E. (2017). Effects of falls prevention interventions on falls outcomes for hospitalised adults: protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis. BMJ open, 7(11), e017864.
Subermaniam, K., Welfred, R., Subramanian, P., Chinna, K., Ibrahim, F., Mohktar, M. S., & Tan, M. P. (2017). The effectiveness of a wireless modular bed absence sensor device for fall prevention among older inpatients. Frontiers in public health, 4, 292.
Tucker, S., Sheikholeslami, D., Farrington, M., Picone, D., Johnson, J., Matthews, G.,… & Cullen, L. (2019). Patient, nurse, and organizational factors that influence evidence‐based fall prevention for hospitalized oncology patients: An exploratory study. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 16(2), 111-120.