Welcome to our blog. Why is EBN entering the world of blogging, you may ask? Let me explain.  I don’t think any nurse would argue that the implementation of evidence in practice is the gold standard.  It’s hard to believe there was a time when evidence was not the benchmark for nursing practice.   However, evidence based practice isn’t always easy to achieve.  In fact one research study showed that nurses were more likely to go to their peers than to go to any other source for their practice knowledge.[1]  There are a lot of barriers to searching literature including lack of time, lack of searching skills and difficulty sorting through copious amounts of information. If you do find a relevant article, how do you know the research is of good quality?  Like many of you I struggled, and continue to struggle with implementation of evidence in practice.  As a nurse practitioner I discovered that there are guidelines for some conditions, but a lack of information for others.

We know the barriers to the implementation of evidence in practice and we want to help!  EBN commentaries provide expert reviews of good quality research studies.  Our tweets @EBNursingBMJ bring you links and comments on interesting research and health-related issues.  In January 2013 we’ll be starting an EBN twitter journal club to discuss specific research articles. Stay tuned to this blog and twitter for more information.

I’ll be blogging weekly, along with my colleagues.  We’ll share our stories about evidence…the pitfalls and successes.  We’ll discuss the evidence related to new practices and trends.  You’ll be linked to the upcoming EBN twitter journal club.

We don’t have all the answers.  I’m sure there will be times of discovery and, maybe controversy.  However, starting a dialogue about evidence is a great first step toward being the best practitioners we can be.  We’d like to invite you to join us on this journey.

Roberta Heale