Evidence-based nursing is believed to be informed by different aspects. Some of these aspects include patients’ values, research findings, and clinical expertise. The utilization of evidence-based care positively impacts patients’ results. For this to be realized in healthcare, research evidence is critical. This is because it acts as a recommended standard practice that should be attained by all nurses and healthcare organizations (Hamer & Collinson, 2014). These are commonly referred to as levels of evidence, and they aim to provide the necessary care to all the patients. They are usually allocated to research studies based on the methodological quality of the utilized design, applicability, and validity to the care offered to patients. This paper will discuss the five levels of evidence used in evidence-based practice.
The initial level of evidence-based practice is known as Level 1. This is an experimental study and a randomized controlled trails. Some examples of evidence mainly within this level include the systematic review that happens in the randomized controlled trials having or without the meta-analysis (Hamer & Collinson, 2014). An example of the Level 1 evidence exists where a random group of patients in an experimental group is usually followed up mainly for the results.
The other level is commonly referred to as Level II. This is a quasi-experimental study. They involve reviews that are systematically done, combined, and controlled. An example that can explain the Level II evidence is studying the reflective learning ability of all nursing students (Stepan et al., 2020). The other level of evidence-based practice is Level III. Level III refers to a systematic review of a mixture of all the randomized control trials, quasi-experiment, and non-experimental studies having or without the meta-analysis. One of Level III examples is the provision of preventative services utilizing a nursing model as offered by the protocol within the medical staff.
The next level of evidence-based practice is Level IV. According to the scientific research, it involves the authorities’ opinion and all the nationally accepted panels. Some of these panels include the consensus panels in nursing. One example under Level IV evidence can be articles available in journals of academic or all the publications mainly done by the nursing professional bodies.
The last level of evidence-based practice is Level V. This level mainly exists according to experimental and other non-research studies. The evidence here includes reviews in literature, all the opinions of nationally recognized experts, and financial assessments (Stepan et al., 2020). An example of the Level V evidence includes sending questionnaires to all the specialized nurses to acquire enough information about a particular topic.
In conclusion, levels of evidence were put in place with the aim of evaluating intervention quality and the treatment studies. These are the contemporary levels of evidence scales mainly for studying different factors such as prognosis, harm, and etiology. The evidence hierarchy provides room for one to utilize the top-down approach while locating the necessary evidence in the nursing profession.