Guest Editorial

The Cochrane Collaboration and Evidence-based Practice: Where the Art and Science of HIV Nursing Meet Danette Y. Wall, DNP, RN, ACRN, CPHQ, LNC Key words: Cochrane Collaboration, evidencebased care, future of nursing, HIV Nightingale suggested that there should be no distinction between men of thought and men of action and that an ideal or philosophy should not be isolated but incorporated into everyday activities. This construct is analogous to the belief that nursing theory and nursing practice should be incorporated, and both should reflect a common central phenomenon. (Jacobs, 2001, p. 17)

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vidence-based practice (EBP) is the present day vernacular that describes the melding of theory, research, and clinical practice. EBP is the intentional integration of the best research evidence with clinical expertise, patient values, and needs in the delivery of quality, cost-effective health care (Burns & Grove, 2009; Stommel & Wills, 2004). EBP is the gold standard of care. Both providers and consumers of health care have come to embrace this belief as a universal truth. Florence Nightingale hit the nail on the head more than 150 years ago. I believe she would be proud of the evolution of research in nursing. The nursing profession, especially HIV nursing, has experienced a paradigm shift. Today nurses request and receive funding, lead complex research endeavors, forge interprofessional research teams, and translate and publish their findings. The Institute of Medicine (2011) identified nursing as the profession capable of spearheading initiatives that will close our frag-

mented health care system. However, our practice needs to be clinically sound, systematic, and free from waste to fulfill this calling. Each nurse by way of educational attainment is expected to participate in the generation, collection, synthesis, and application of the best research evidence (American Association of the Colleges of Nurses, 2006). The integration of research findings into practice no longer belongs to an organization or entity. The individual practitioner is empowered to advocate for and practice evidence-based care in part or whole to organizations such as the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC) and the Cochrane Collaboration. ANAC encourages its members to conduct research and investigate phenomena to improve the quality of life and care of persons infected with and affected by HIV. For any research enterprise to exist, the discipline must know how to access and filter through the abundance of available information. The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC) is our filter. Systematic reviews are our access, and the Cochrane Collaboration and Cochrane Library are, and continue to be, our vessel and passport to high-quality evidence-based interventions and outcomes.

Danette Y. Wall, DNP, RN, ACRN, CPHQ, LNC, is Chief Operations Officer, Qdot Inc., LLC, Tampa, Florida, and a Clinical Advisor with CarePlus Health Plans, Inc, a subsidiary of Humana in Tampa, Florida. Danette is a member of the Cochrane Nursing Care Field (CNCF).

JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF NURSES IN AIDS CARE, Vol. 25, No. 1, January/February 2014, 4-6 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jana.2013.09.003 Copyright Ó 2014 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care

Wall / Guest Editorial

By far, JANAC readers are not strangers to the importance of EBP or systematic reviews conducted by the Cochrane Collaboration. What you may not know is that the Cochrane Collaboration celebrates 20 years this year (Cochrane Collaboration, 2013). Over the past 20 years, information from these reviews has helped to shape HIV nursing practice. Authors have used Cochrane systematic reviews to examine topics such as pain management, smoking cessation, renal care, antiretroviral therapy, and nutritional problems, as well as behavioral and psychological phenomena. In the last decade, Sowell (2001) introduced us to EBP, as did Sharts-Hopko (2003). Urbshott, Kennedy, and Rutherford (2001) illustrated the importance of accessing the Cochrane Library to filter through the deluge of unmanageable amounts and, at times, narrow views of information to develop comprehensive HIV care programs. In The Cochrane HIV/AIDS Review Group and Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing (Urbshott et al., 2001), the authors introduced us to systematic reviews and the Cochrane Review Group on HIV Infection and AIDS (HIV/AIDS Group). The HIV/ AIDS Group was formed in 1997 to conduct systematic reviews of outcomes of randomized controlled trials and other studies on the prevention and treatment of HIV infection, as well as the organization and financing of health care services. Today their work spans international waters, preparing and updating rigorous systematic reviews related to HIV prevention, treatment, and care interventions (HIV/ AIDS Group, 2013). But wait, there’s more! As part of the Cochrane Collaboration, the Cochrane Nursing Care Field (CNCF, 2013) promotes the use of EBP by supporting the dissemination and utilization of systemic reviews by nurses and others involved in research. CNCF not only supports review groups in the preparation of the review, they help identify new research topics. The CNCF’s work is international in scope. The group intentionally targets research studies in languages other than English, thus providing nursing and other professions a global perspective on common and uncommon issues important to the nursing profession. With limited resources and ever-increasing constraints, decision-makers of all capacities require clear and concise information. The Cochrane Collaboration, CNCF, and the HIV/AIDS Group serve this

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purpose. Inherent in these challenges is the opportunity for continued improvement and having a pool of trained reviewers to continue the legacy of the Cochrane Collaboration and HIV/AIDS Group. It is with great appreciation that I say thank you and wish the Cochrane Collaboration 20 more years of continued success. The nursing profession, HIV nursing, and society have benefited from the collaboration’s very existence. The Cochrane Collaboration is 20 years in the making and going strong. How awesome is this? Florence would be proud.

Disclosures The author reports no real or perceived vested interests that relate to this article that could be construed as a conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments The author wishes to acknowledge and thank the Cochrane Nursing Care Field for this opportunity, and everyone past and present at Rivington House Health Care Facility, New York City, where my HIV nursing career began.

References American Association of the Colleges of Nurses. (2006). AACN position statement on nursing research. Retrieved from http:// www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/position/nursing-research Burns, N., & Grove, S. K. (2009). The practice of nursing research: Appraisal, synthesis, and generation of evidence (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier. The Cochrane Collaboration. (2013). About us. Retrieved from http://www.cochrane.org/ The Cochrane Nursing Care Field. (2013). About us. Retrieved from http://cncf.cochrane.org/about-us The Cochrane Review Group on HIV/AIDS. (2013). About the Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group. Retrieved from http://hiv. cochrane.org/about-cochrane-hivaids-group Institute of Medicine. (2011). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Retrieved from http://www.iom. edu/Reports/2010/The-future-of-nursing-leading-changeadvancing-health.aspx Jacobs, B. B. (2001). Respect for human dignity: a central phenomenon to philosophically unite nursing theory and practice

6 JANAC Vol. 25, No. 1, January/February 2014 through consilience of knowledge. Advances in Nursing Science, 24(1), 17-35. Sharts-Hopko, N. (2003). Evidence-based practice: What constitutes evidence? Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 14(3), 76-78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/ 1055329003014003007 Sowell, R. (2001). Evidenced-based practice: ANAC taking the lead. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 11(5), 11-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1055-3290(06) 60380-4 Stommel, M., & Wills, C. (2004). Clinical research: Concepts and principles for advanced practice nurses. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Urbshott, G., Kennedy, G., & Rutherford, G. (2001). The Cochrane HIV/AIDS review group and evidence-based practice in nursing. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, 12(6), 94-101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S10553290(06)60189-1

The Cochrane Collaboration and evidence-based practice: where the art and science of HIV nursing meet.

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