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Evidence-Based Practice

Step 3: Appraise

The third step in EBP is to appraise the information you've found for usefulness and value.

After finding relevant articles and information, it is important to determine what information is relevant to your research. This is done by conducting a critical appraisal of every piece of evidence you've gathered. Critical appraisal is the process of carefully and systematically examining research to judge its trustworthiness, value and relevance in a particular context.

The questions you want to ask:

  1. What are the results?
    • What is the magnitude of the relationship between predictors?
    • How precise are the study estimates?
    • Are there multiple comparisons of data?
  2. Are the results of the study valid?
    • Is there any bias?
    • Were appropriate controls selected?
    • Was data collection consistent?
  3. Will the results help me in caring for my patients?
    • Were the patients in this study similar to my patients?
    • Will the results lead directly to selecting or avoiding therapy?
    • What are the risks and benefits of this treatment?
    • Is this treatment feasible in my clinical setting?
  • Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2015). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.)

Appraisal Tools

There are many checklists and tools to help you in carrying out a critical appraisal of evidence: