International Nurses Association

Evidence-based medicine is a relatively new term. To simplify what it is, essentially, it's a combination of things used to treat a patient. The idea is to utilize the scientific side of medicine, the physicians' knowledge and expertise, and combine it with the patient's history, needs, and lifestyle. In other words, if a patient is a professional tennis player and has a tumor in their arm, the protocol would be to carefully consider how treatment should proceed.  An aggressive and harsh treatment for the arm of a tennis player is probably not something the patient wants. A group of doctors would meet and discuss possibilities as to the best form of treatment while preserving the use of the patient's arm, so that their life is not altered. This is a concept that has been developed to provide more patient satisfaction in medicine, and also involving the patient more in the decision making about their care. For many years patients have visited their primary healthcare p