Nursing

One of the earliest and certainly the most influential definitions of evidence-based practice (EBP) is by Sackett et al. (1996): 'Evidence-based medicine is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients.' The focus of this definition is clearly on the use of research to inform decision-makers and enhance their decision-making capabilities. The decision-makers appear here to be the clinicians, those responsible for the care of individual patients, and indeed the experience and judgement of clinicians is an integral part of the process. However, an unrepresented group in this definition are patients, users or clients and it is essential that their subjective values, preferences, beliefs and opinions are incorporated into the decision-making process.