Rationing Evidence-Based Nursing Practice: Considering a Resource-Based Approach

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the United States and the global healthcare system. The lack of agency and national stockpiles of personal protection equipment led to rationing and alteration in best infection prevention practices. The lack of resources forced nurses to make decisions based on resources rather than evidence. This article offers a brief review of the tenants of evidence-based practice, and discusses EBP during the COVID-19 pandemic. Presented is information about the concepts important to a resource-based view, and a potential modification of an EBP model that adds the perspective of resource-based practice to include the actual availability of resources to inform clinical decision-making by nurses and other providers.