Definitions & Pillars
What is Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)?
This term describes a conscientious, problem-solving approach to clinical care that blends evidence, expertise, and patient values.
What is Domain 4 (Scholarship for the Nursing Discipline)?
The AACN Essentials places Evidence-Based Practice under this numbered Domain.
What are systematic reviews & meta-analyses?
experimental study, randomized control
What is Disease Prevention & Health Promotion?
In this sphere, a community health nurse uses the CDC's STEADI protocol to screen seniors for fall risk.
What is clinical expertise?
This is the pillar of EBP that refers to the clinician's accumulated skill, judgment, and experience.
What is ethical conduct?
Sub-competency 4.3 focuses on promoting this kind of conduct in scholarly activities.
What is a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)?
type of trial, often considered the gold standard for testing an intervention, ranks just below systematic reviews.
What is Chronic Disease Care?
In this sphere, a nurse educator runs an ADA-endorsed Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) program.
What are patient preferences?
This is the pillar of EBP that includes individual and family values, needs, and circumstances.
What is system effectiveness?
AACN Domain 7.3 says EBP and innovation help optimize this.
What are cohort studies and case-control studies?
These two study types — one following a group over time, one comparing cases to non-cases — sit in the middle of the pyramid.
What is Regenerative / Restorative Care?
In this sphere, ICU nurses apply the VAP prevention bundle to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia.
What is research?
Unlike EBP, this process generates brand-new knowledge rather than applying it at the bedside.
What is health equity?
Applying evidence critically can help address racism and disparities baked into care structures
What is expert opinion / background information?
This is the weakest, broadest form of evidence at the base of the pyramid.
-scoping reviews
-literature reviews
-case reports
What is Hospice, Palliative & Supportive Care?
In this sphere, a hospice nurse uses the PAINAD scale to assess pain in nonverbal patients.
What perspectives are represented (whose voice created the evidence, what harm might it cause)?
EBP asks this deeper question about evidence — beyond just the data — to keep care meaningful and culturally safe.
What is an innovator?
Nurses act in this role within the interprofessional team, using EBP to tackle health inequities and structural barriers.
What is the levels-of-evidence pyramid (evidence hierarchy)?
Clinicians use this hierarchy to decide how much weight to give a study before applying it to care.
What is Regenerative / Restorative Care?
This sphere covers critical/trauma care and treatment of physiologically unstable patients in acute settings.