Features

Clinical Manager Authors Article on Evidence-Based Nursing Practice

September 30, 2009

Knowledge is power. At least if you ask Lorry Schoenly, Clinical Education Manager at Correctional Medical Services, Inc (CMS).

Schoenly recently outlined a compelling case for the application of research in correctional nursing in an article appearing in the current issue of CorrectCare magazine, a quarterly publication of the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare (NCCHC).

In the piece, Schoenly focuses on the growing interest in evidenced-based nursing practice (EBNP), which relies on current research and other objective information to guide patient care. At the center of EBNP are protocols based on tangible, proven data rather than the practice of medicine justified by "the way we have always done it."

Schoenly says there is growing interest in EBNP in correctional medicine and authored the article to explain this popular approach and illustrate how nurses may apply the practice in the correctional environment.

"EBNP has attracted a lot of attention within the nursing field over the years, but many nurses are unsure of how to handle the research or easily apply it to patient care," said Schoenly. "So, in this article, I wanted to show correctional nurses that there are many tools already available online that have pooled all the current research and they can use these resources to help develop appropriate nursing protocols for a variety of conditions."

The CorrectCare article outlines a number of benefits EBNP can have, including leading to more efficient, effective and consistent patient care. Schoenly points out CMS' Nursing Leadership Council (NLC) and various multi-disciplinary groups within the company recognize the value of this approach and have begun to evaluate programs and protocols in this vein.

"We are always looking for ways to advance the practice of correctional nursing and make positive improvements in our patients' health," said Schoenly. "I've received a lot of good feedback on the article so far and am encouraged that more and more nurses are seeing the value of evidenced-based nursing."

Click here to read Lorry Schoenly's full article in CorrectCare magazine.