Clinician-implemented research utilization in critical care

The application of research findings to practice is critical for improving patients' outcomes and for ensuring that nursing practice is both cost-efficient and effective. Unfortunately, research findings that clearly should be used are not always implemented, a fact termed the "research-practice gap." In 2000, as a result of the interest of staff nurses in establishing evidence-based practice, nurses from 7 adult critical care units at the University of California Davis Health System, Sacramento, Calif began discussions on how to implement such a practice. A critical care research utilization committee was formed with representation from each of the adult critical care units, the emergency department, and the postanesthesia care unit. This committee was responsible for reviewing and revising each critical care policy and procedure on the basis of the best available evidence. The impetus for this project was a concern that current policies and procedures were, in part, based on tradition rather than on science and did not always reflect rapid changes in critical care, including use of new equipment, new treatments, and new findings. This project produced a number of beneficial outcomes. Policies and procedures were revised on the basis of scientific evidence, new research questions were generated on the basis of gaps in the literature, and the number of clinical nurses involved in using research to improve practice increased.