Journal of Advanced Practices in Nursing

Background: Evidence based practice is conscientious, clear and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of the individual patient. Through the time, new and more effective medicines, medical devices and procedures are invented to help doctors, nurses and medical technicians provide the best possible care and treatments to patients.
Objective: To assess nurses knowledge and utilization of evidence-based practice and its associated factors in selected hospitals of Southern Ethiopia.
Methods: Facility-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among nurses working in selected hospitals of three zones of south region of Ethiopia from March 30 to May 1, 2017. 208 BSc nurses were involved in the study. The data was collected by three trained diploma nurses. The collected data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21 statistical software package. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was done to identify factors that are associated with knowledge and utilization of evidence based practice among nurses. A statistical significance was declared at p value <0.05.
Results: Nearly half (45.3%) of nurses in this study had poor knowledge regarding evidence based practice. 38.5% of respondents were never utilized evidence based practice in their clinical practice. In this study being head nurse was 3.43 times (AOR= 3.427) (95%CI=(1.289, 9.112)) more likely to use evidence based practice when it is compared to being staff nurse. Knowledge of evidence based practice was significantly associated with nursing experience and working unit among nurses.
Conclusion and Recommendation: The result of this findings revealed that nurses working in selected hospitals in Southern nation nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia have low level of knowledge on evidence-based nursing practice. The manager of these hospitals need to provide on job training on evidence based practice which can raises level of knowledge and utilization of an evidence based practice among nurses.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to develop the evidences-based protocol for depression in the elderly people.
Study Design: Integrated literature review.
Methodology: Integrated literature review in the systems of Chinese CEPS, Cinahl, Cochrone Library systems by the three keywords of depression, elderly, and evidences-based nursing.
Findings: The evidences-based protocol of depression in the elderly people was developed based on the validate literature that could be tested in the future for the elders who have or have not dementia. For those who do not have dementia, the protocol could screen the elders who were pseudo or truly dementia. For those who do have dementia, the protocol could go for the specific Comell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) for dementia elders. The pharmacological interventions were for the major depression elders; for instance, TCAs and SSRIs were applied in the acute stage, while, duloxetine, and alternative treatment as GMDZ were used in the relapse and maintaining stages. Additionally, the non-pharmacological interventions including the exercises, yoga, physical touch, music, art, horticultural, reminiscence, cognitive and psychotherapy therapies were suggested for the moderate and minor depression elders. The core nursing care issue for the major depression elders was the safety, for the moderate depression elders was autonomy, for the minor depression elders was the community and home care.
Conclusion: The evidences-based protocol of depression in the elderly people could provide the healthcare professionals in the long-term care facilities as the reference to care those who have or have not dementia.

Background: Menopause characters the end of the female reproductive period. Psychological problems as anxiety and depression are reported among woman in menopausal period. The aim of the research is to find out the impact of menopausal symptoms on psychological problems among middle aged women problems.

Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. The study was conducted at eight colleges from Zagazig University. Sample of convenience is composed of 200 menopausal women. Four tools were used for collection of data, Interview questionnaire, Menopause Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory Scale and Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale.

Results: More than three quarters of the studied sample were aged above 50 years with Mean ± SD 53.6 ± 6.3; nearly half of them had severe menopausal symptom. More than one third of the studied sample had mild depression and more than half of them had severe anxiety.

Conclusion: Positive significant correlation between total menopausal symptom with anxiety and depression score. The present study highlights that depression and anxiety are widely prevalent among the middle aged women so that women should be screened in the menopause transition especially for clinically significant depression and anxiety as some changes in women lifestyle like diet and exercises can improve good mood.