Nurses of USC

The Johns Hopkins Evidence Based Nursing Model lists the following as NonResearch evidence methodologies: Organizational Experience (Quality Improvement, Financial Evaluation), Expert Opinion, Community Standard, Clinician Experience, Patient Experience are Level V Evidence at the bottom of the Evidence Pyramid.

In contrast to research studies, most Quality Improvement studies are not meant to be generalized to other settings. However, QI stories have the potential to help identify future EBP questions, QI projects and research, and there is growing evidence to support EBQI* as a promising strategy for integrating relevant prior scientific findings and methods systematically in the QI process.

* Hempel, S., Bolshakova, M., Turner, B. J., Dinalo, J., Rose, D., Motala, A., Fu, N., Clemesha, C. G., Rubenstein, L., & Stockdale, S. (2022). Evidence-Based Quality Improvement: a Scoping Review of the Literature. Journal of general internal medicine, 37(16), 4257–4267. https://doi-org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.1007/s11606-022-07602-5 

NonResearch should also follow a structured approach with well described methods to establish that observed outcomes were due to the interventions. See the Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting (SQUIRE) Guidelines below.

The SQUIRE Guidelines provide a framework for reporting new knowledge about how to improve healthcare. Intended for reports that describe system level work to improve the quality, safety, and value of healthcare, and used methods to establish that observed outcomes were due to the intervention(s).

For more on these issues, see: Davidoff F, Batalden P. Toward stronger evidence on quality improvement. Draft publication guidelines: the beginning of a consensus project. Qual Saf. Health Care 2005;14:319-25

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)  the lead Federal agency charged with improving the safety and quality of healthcare for all Americans. AHRQ develops the knowledge, tools, and data needed to improve the healthcare system and help consumers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers make informed health decisions.

Health Services Research (HSR) Pubmed Queries template provides specialized searches on healthcare quality and costs.

Quality standards is the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) database of summarized quality statements, or measures, derived from the NICE guideline evidence-base.