Evidence-based approach focus of scholar events

Nationally recognized educator, pediatric and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner Dr. Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk will be the featured speaker at the 2005 Cleveland Visiting Scholar events hosted by the Washington State University Intercollegiate College of Nursing Sept. 22 in Spokane.

Melnyk, dean and distinguished foundation professor in nursing at Arizona State University, has authored more than 80 publications and serves as a developmental expert for ABC News. She will present lectures related to evidence-based clinical practice and research designed to improve coping/mental health outcomes in critically ill/hospitalized children, premature infants and parents.

“Evidence-based practice is a problem-solving approach to care that integrates evidence from the best studies in combination with a patient’s preferences and a clinician’s expertise,” said Melnyk.

Although research has indicated an evidence-based practice approach to care results in 28 percent better outcomes than care steeped in tradition, says Melnyk, only a small percentage of health care providers are consistently using this approach in their practices.

Melnyk will lead two separate presentations designed to engage students, faculty, health care professionals and the general public.She will speak to students, faculty and health care professionals on “Igniting Evidence-Based Practice in Clinical Settings,” from 1 to 2:30 p.m.and “Improving Outcomes of Hospitalized, Critically-Ill Children, Premature Infants, and Parents with COPE: A Program of Research,” from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Both presentations will be held at the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing campus located at 2917 W. Fort George Wright Drive. The latter presentation is open to the public. A pre-lecture reception will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Atrium Hallway.

Both presentations will be broadcast via the Washington Higher Education Telecommunications Systems to sites throughout the state including Pullman, Spokane, Tri-Cities, Vancouver, Walla Walla and Yakima.

“EBP needs to be the standard of care across all health professions,” said Melnyk. “An acceleration of this paradigm shift needs to occur to improve the quality of health care across the United States.”

Now in its seventh year, the annual Cleveland Visiting Scholar event brings nursing scholars with a national perspective and expert knowledge to Spokane to discuss issues related to nursing education, practice and professional development.

The annual Cleveland Visiting Scholar program began in 1998 to honor WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing Dean Emeritus Dr. Thelma Cleveland. The event is sponsored by the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing and is made possible through the gifts and financial contributions of a network of community and individual donors committed to quality health care and higher education.

Established in 1968, the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing is fully-accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. The college is the nation’s oldest and most comprehensive nursing education consortium and is the largest college of nursing in the Northwest. Celebrating 37 years of world-class nursing education, the college offers baccalaureate, graduate and professional development course work to nursing students enrolled through its four consortium partners: Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, WSU and Whitworth College. Each year the college educates more than 800 graduate and upper-division undergraduate students and prepares more entry-level nurses than any other Washington state educational institution.

For more information about the College of Nursing, visit the Web site at nursing.wsu.edu.