Evidence-based practice for the busy nurse practitioner: part four: putting it all together.

Purpose: Understanding the critical appraisal process allows nurse practitioners (NPs) to determine a study's reliability, validity, and applicability to their client(s)/families, and to their clinical practice setting. The purpose of this final part of this four-part evidence-based practice (EBP) series is designed to utilize a clinical scenario that will walk the NP through EBP steps 1 through 3 while providing an example of how to critically appraise a randomized control trial.

Data Sources: Scientific literature review, gray literature, PubMed and other online literature databases and resources, and online EBP websites.

Evidence-based practice for the busy nurse practitioner: part three: critical appraisal process.

Purpose: Evidence-based practice (EBP) involves integrating research evidence with clinical expertise to answer clinical practice inquiries. The purpose of part 3 of this EBP series is to provide an introductory overview of the critical appraisal process, relevant clinical measurements, and critical thinking skills that can enhance nurse practitioners' (NPs') confidence in the clinical decision-making process.

Data Sources: Scientific literature review, gray literature, PubMed and other online literature databases and resources, and online EBP websites.

Evidence-based practice for the busy nurse practitioner: part two: searching for the best evidence to clinical inquiries.

Purpose: The purpose of this four-part evidence-based practice (EBP) series is to enhance the nurse practitioner's (NP's) EBP skills by reviewing the process of developing a clinical question, searching for the best evidence, and critically appraising and applying the findings. Part two of the series focuses on how to search the published scientific literature for the most relevant studies that will answer a specific clinical question of importance to the NP.

Data Sources: Scientific literature review, gray searching, PubMed and other online literature databases and resources, and online EBP websites.

Evidence-based practice for the busy nurse practitioner: part one: relevance to clinical practice and clinical inquiry process.

Purpose: Evidence-based practice (EBP) continues to gain momentum within health care. The purpose of this four-part EBP series is to provide an introductory overview of the EBP process, emphasizing EBP steps one through three, in order to assist nurse practitioners (NPs) in building EBP skills that can be integrated into clinical practice. The relevance of EBP to the NP's clinical practice, an introduction to the EBP process steps, and clinical inquiry process begin the series.

A literature review on breathing retraining as a self-management strategy operationalized through Rosswurm and Larrabee's evidence-based practice model.

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to critically appraise and synthesize the literature on breathing retraining as a self-management strategy for individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) guided by Rosswurm and Larrabee's evidence-based practice model.

Data Sources: Scientific literature review, grey literature review, and hand searching.

Conclusions: An exhaustive review of the literature revealed evidence that regularly practiced pursed lip breathing is an effective self-management strategy for individuals with COPD to improve their dyspnea.

Relationship of metabolic syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea.

Study Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and metabolic syndrome represent significant risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this study was to see how frequently metabolic syndrome occurred in patients with OSA and whether the presence of metabolic syndrome was correlated with age, sex, or severity of OSA.

Methods: We examined the records of 250 consecutive patients referred to our Sleep Disorders Center to have polysomnography for the evaluation of OSA and extracted clinical data from the patients' medical records.