Cunningham Memorial Library: Evidence-Based Practice: Guidelines

Databases

Best practices are available from many sources, including journals and other resources indexed in CINAHL and MEDLINE. Many databases contain limiters (Publication Type, etc.) to find practice guidelines.

CINAHL
CINAHL publication types to consider include Care Plan, Clinical Innovations, Critical Path, Practice Guidelines, Protocol and Standards.
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Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. Also, CINAHLPlus includes Evidence-Based Care Sheets but ISU does not have access to CINAHLPlus. So if your clinical setting has access, check it out.
MEDLINE
Limit to the MEDLINE publication type of "Practice guideline" or "guideline"
OR limit to the MEDLINE Subject Heading of "Practice guideline" or "guideline"
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All Practice Guidelines are also indexed as Guidelines.
Health Source: Nursing / Academic Edition
Try searching for "guideline* in the title of articles, although this may miss a few.
MD Consult
Use your personal MD Consult subscription. Click on "Guidelines" to search for guidelines. Search by authoring organization, specialty, or topic.
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ISU Library does not have a subscription to MD Consult. Free trials are available.
Cochrane Library Cochrane Collaboration
Four EBP full-text databases:
*Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR),
*Database of Abstracts of Reviews and Effectiveness (DARE),
*Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CCTR),
*Cochrane Review Methodology Database (CRMD)

Library Catalog

Search for the following phrases as a Subject

clinical medicine--standards
nursing care--standards
practice guidelines

Library Catalog (Fusion)
Useful for finding books, journals, and the basics--often not the best path for locating scores, recordings, and microforms. Use this basic search when you already know what you want--working from citations or a bibliography, or other sources with precise information.
Classic Catalog
Best searching interface for journals, scores, sound recordings, and other complex materials (such as microfilms of manuscripts). Multiple search boxes make exploratory keyword searching easier to enter.

Internet Search Engines

Search your favorite search engine for practice guidelines. Keywords to try include

practice guideline
practice parameter
clinical guideline
standard
protocol
consensus document
algorithm
decision support system

Perhaps search for plurals, too.

Finding and Evaluating Clinical Practice Guidelines

Finding and Evaluating Clinical Practice Guidelines
McSweeney, M., Spies, M., Cann, Cheryle J. (2001) Nurse Practitioner. 26(9):30. (Requires login)
Critical Appraisal Tools - University of South Australia
List of many checklists used to evaluate types of research, including Practice Guidelines
Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) Instrument
The purpose of the AGREE Instrument is to provide a framework for assessing the quality of clinical practice guidelines. Clcik the PDF version and skim to the last few pages to see the AGREE II instrument.
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AGREE is an international collaboration to improve the quality of clinical practice guidelines by establishing a framework for their development, reporting and assessment.
USPSTF Methods of Evaluation
Section 5. Methods for Arriving at a Recommendation
Section 6. Other Considerations for Recommendations
Sections above discuss how the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) evaluates guidelines and assigns a "grade"
Field, M. J., & Lohr, K. N. (1990). Clinical practice guidelines: Directions for a new program.
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee to Advise the Public Health Service on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Classic work on guidelines. Click "Check Availability" for full-text.
Field, M. J., & Lohr, K. N. (1992). Guidelines for clinical practice: From development to use.
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Classic work on guidelines. Click "Check Availability" for full-text.

General Practice Guidelines Resources

AHRQ Evidence Based Practice Reports
US Dept of Health & Human Services; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Centre for Effective Practice (CEP) Tools
Founded in 2004 by the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto.
CMA Infobase: Clinical Practice Guidelines Database (CPGs)
Association Medicale Canadienne (Canadian Medical Association)
GuidelineCentral
Guideline Central is currently working with a handful of other organizations to establish a new non-profit initiative which will aim to fill the gap left by the sudden closure of AHRQ’s National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC).
Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) Guideline Library
The Guidelines International Network is formally constituted as a Scottish Guarantee Company .
HSTAT (Health Services Technology Assessment Text)
NLM Information Technology Branch of the Lister Hill Center
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Includes some practice guidelines.
Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) Guidelines
Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI)
National Clinical Guideline Centre (NCGC)
Royal College of Physicians (RCP), United Kingdom
National Guideline Clearinghouse
Web site will not be available after July 16, 2018 because federal funding through AHRQ will no longer be available
National Institutes of Health (NIH), UK
Search the 27 United Kingdom Institutes and Centers for "clinical practice guidelines", "practice guidelines", or "guidelines"
New Zealand Guidelines Group (NZGG) Publications
NICE Guidance Listing
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NIH Consensus Statements
National Institutes of Health (NIH), United Kingdom
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NIH Consensus or State-of-the-Science statements reflect the NIH panel's assessment of medical knowledge available at the time the statement was written.
Nursing Practice Guidelines (by Ministry of Health, Singapore)
RCN Clinical Guidelines
Includes older guidelines by the Royal College of Nursing, United Kingdom. RCN no longer produces guidelines alone but supports the National Clinical Guideline Centre (NCGC).
RNAO Nursing Best Practice Guidelines
Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO)
SIGN Published Guidelines
Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network
UCSF Primary Care Clinical Practice Guidelines
University of California, San Francisco

Specific Practice Guidelines Resources

Check out nursing specialty organizations.

AACN (American Association of Critical-Care Nurses)
Includes both free and "member-only" information, as well as links for purchasing published standards.
AAP Practice Guidelines
American Academy of Pediatrics
AIDSinfo
US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) project providing information on HIV/AIDS clinical trials and treatment.
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Includes some practice guidelines
AMDA Clinical Practice Guidelines
American Medical Directors Association
American Association for Respiratory Care Resources
American Association for Respiratory Care
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Medical Guidelines for Clinical Practice
American Cancer Society
Search for guidelines.
American College of Physicians Guidelines
APA Clinical Practice Guidelines
American Psychiatric Association
AWHONN Guidelines
Association of Women's Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. Lists AWHONN EBP guidelines. Guideline summaries are available from the National Guideline Clearinghouse by searching on "AWHONN"
BCGuidelines
Guidelines and Protocols Advisory Committee (GPAC), a joint committee of the BCMA and the Ministry of Health, British Columbia, Canada
CardioSource - Practice Guidelines & Quality Standards
American College of Cardiology
Gerontological Nursing Interventions Research Center Guidelines
University of Iowa Gerontological Nursing Interventions Research Center Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines are available for a fee. See the Catalog.
NANN Guidelines
National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN)
National Kidney Foundation KDOQI CKD Guidelines
National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF KDOQI)
ONS Putting Evidence Into Practice (PEP)
Oncology Nursing Society (ONS)
UCSF Primary Care Clinical Practice Guidelines
University of California, San Francisco
VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines Home
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense (DoD)

Evidence-Based Practice: Guidelines