Economic evidence for evidence-based practice.
OBJECTIVE
To explicate (a) the types of economic analyses available to nurses, (b) the measurement of costs in different types of economic evaluations, (c) recommendations for standardization, and (d) the assessment of economic evaluations for evidence-based practice.


METHODS
Five types of economic analyses are reviewed. Recommendations for standardization of cost-effectiveness analyses are included as well as a worksheet for use in critiquing economic evaluations for validity and applicability to clinical settings.


RESULTS
Limited knowledge and a lack of consistent approaches to economic analyses are evident in the nursing and health care literature. However, nurses have not contributed to the conduct of rigorous economic evaluations or research to the extent found in other health care disciplines.


CONCLUSIONS
Basing nursing practice on the best available evidence is now the expected standard of care. Applying economic evidence to practice requires understanding the methods used to conduct economic evaluations and to analyze the rigor of such evaluations.
Stone
Patricia W
PW
Columbia University, School of Nursing, 617 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA. ps2024@columbia.edu
Curran
Christine R
CR
Bakken
Suzanne
S
D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D015401:Nursing Administration Research / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D009739:Nursing Services / Q000191:economics*; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years