Clinical Guidelines 2
Clinical Guidelines 2
A.k.a Clinical Protocols, Clinical Practical Guidelines (CPGS), Medical Guidelines, Practice Guidelines,
Evidence-Based Documents that serve as decision making guidelines.
DEFINITION
Clinical practice guidelines (or simply "clinical guidelines") are recommendations on how to
diagnose and treat a medical condition. They are mainly written for doctors, but also for nurses
and other health care professionals.
"systematically developed statements to assist practitioner decisions about appropriate health
care for specific clinical circumstances." Guidelines can be used to reduce inappropriate
variations in practice and to promote the delivery of high quality, evidence-based health care.
PURPOSE
The purpose of guidelines is to improve the quality of care for patients and improve clinical
effectiveness by implementation of evidence-based care in daily practice.
Clinical guidelines can be developed either locally (internal guidelines) or regionally or nationally
(external guidelines). Although internal guidelines may need fewer resources and may be more
likely to be adopted into clinical practice because of local ownership, local groups may not have
the skills required for guideline development. An alternative is the development of guidelines at
regional or national levels and subsequent modification to suit local circumstances.
Firstly, it is essential that guidelines are based on the best available research evidence, and
therefore a detailed literature search is done to identify evidence from research studies about
the appropriateness and effectiveness of different clinical strategies.
Next, using the research evidence, guideline construction takes place, usually through some
form of small group work, with representation from as many interested parties as possible.
Then, the guideline is tested by asking professionals not involved in the guideline development
to review it for clarity, internal consistency, and acceptability. The guideline can then be tested
in selected healthcare settings to see whether it is feasible for use in routine practice.
Finally, the guideline should be reviewed after a specified time period and modified to take into
account new knowledge.
11 CHARACTERISTICS
validity
cost effectiveness
reproducibility
reliability
representative development
clinical applicability
clinical flexibility
clarity
scheduled review
meticulous documentation
unscheduled review.
Clarity
Compatibility
Clear rationales
Benefits of CPGS