Implementation Science for nursing: evidence needed!: call for papers for a special issue.

摘要

In the light of global initiatives to improve patient safety and promotion of evidence based practice, health care workers are increasingly held accountable for the care they provide. Though the dominant focus is often on medical providers, nurses are not exempt.Reports on professional performance demonstrate opportunities to improve quality and safety. Studies on hand hygiene among health care workers, for instance, show that providers adhere to hand hygiene recommendations in less than 50% of all relevant opportunities (Pittet et al., 2000), with disappointing adherence rates for all groups of professionals, including nurses. Similarly, suboptimal performance is clear from studies on a variety of care issues, indicating problems such as inadequate pain relief in emergency care (Berben et al., 2011), a lack of pressure ulcer prevention (De Laat et al., 2006), and overuse of physical restraints in nursing homes (Meyer et al., 2009). These examples illustrate that the notorious gap between knowledge and current practice still persists. This gap leads to questions regarding nurses' professionalism and threatens the safety and quality of patient care.