Applying an EBP Model

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hereditary blood disorder that causes the red blood cells to stiffen into a sickle shape. This leads to obstruction in the blood vessels, pain crisis, organ damage, and a drop in the quality of life (QOL) (D’Costa et al., 2023). Children such as a 10-year-old with a pain crisis require holistic and lifetime care. Evidence-based practice (EBP) in nursing is an effort to improve patient safety and care. This takes into account evidence, practitioner and patient values/preferences in order to realize the intended results. The paper discusses the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice (JHNEBP) model to resolve problems in the SCD child’s care and enhance his pain control experience.

Description of the Diagnosis and Associated Issue

Sickle cell anemia is a long-lasting condition that is commonly experienced by children. Pain (pain crises) has been noted to be a common symptom of the disease in childhood, with multiple hospital visits and requiring a multidisciplinary team for their management (Jain et al., 2026). A problem with SCD is that there is a gap between the development of the disease and symptoms and complications (pain crisis). In addition, care can be influenced by problems with the coordination of services and access to health services, including transportation problems, lack of knowledge and skills in health care providers. These affect the quality of life and complications.

It is here that an EBP approach can assist, where care can be provided in a different way compared to the typical care approach and not based on the best available evidence. Without the availability and consistency of using evidence-based approaches, there’s a potential for a delay in timely pain and supportive care interventions. The EBP model assists health care practitioners in planning care, avoiding delays in care, and enhancing quality and outcomes with the top and current evidence at their fingertips (Connor, 2023). This means that an EBP model will need to be adopted to aid in alleviating these problems and health outcomes in children with SCD.

Selection of the Evidence-Based Practice Model

The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice (JHNEBP) model was chosen for this discussion as it is an easy way to integrate and use to support decision-making (Bissett et al., 2025). This model is divided into three general steps: Practice Question (P), Evidence (E), and Translation (T). The model provides a framework that nurses can use to recognize evidence problems, seek evidence, and transform practice to utilize evidence.

The JHNEBP model is suitable to tackle issues related to sickle cell disease as it is practice-focused. It assists nurses in forming practice questions and finding and utilizing evidence. It also results in better patient outcomes and the added advantages of standardisation and uniformity of nursing care (Gaber et al., 2025). The simplicity of the models enables them to be used in complicated issues, including delays in the treatment and care of SCD kids.

Description of the Evidence-Based Practice Model Steps

The JHNEBP model’s first step is the Practice Question (P), and it starts with recognising a problem and developing an evidence question. This may be achieved by taking into account Population (P), Intervention (I), Comparison (C), Outcome (O), and Time (T) factors (PICOT). Again, with regard to sickle cell disease, the practice question is to coordinate care and expedite treatment for pain in children.

The second step is Evidence (E), as nurses apply evidence by searching for studies and analysing the validity and applicability of the studies. The nurses search credible databases (for example, PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar) for peer-reviewed evidence in the area. And the nurses also critique the evidence for validity, reliability, and strength to ensure that the evidence used to guide our practice is reliable.

The third step is Transformation (T), or putting the evidence into our practice. This is when we introduce strategies to facilitate change, such as improved communication between health care providers, education of the patient, and removing these barriers to treatment (Ainslie et al., 2024). These strategies are tested to assess the impact it has on the patient. Steps are important as they outline the strategic approach of the model by using best practices in health care.

Application of the Evidence-Based Practice Model to the Issue

A particular issue impacted by using the JHNEBP model was the delayed treatment and lack of coordination of care in the case of childhood sickle cell disease. In the Practice Question phase, a PICOT question was developed: What is the effect of enhanced care on the prevention and treatment of pain crises, and on patient outcomes in kids who suffer from sickle cell disease compared to usual care? This question was applied in searching for literature.

In the Evidence phase, peer-reviewed literature from the past 5 years was identified using search engines PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. We conducted a search based on the following terms: Sickle cell disease, children, childhood, pain crisis, coordination of care, and barriers to care. Articles we have chosen were based on the research findings within the past few years, with results in children and barriers to care. We identified barriers to care, with few studies focused on children, and problems getting the full text of certain studies. We had the opportunity to search a couple of studies.

At the Translation stage, we formulated care improvement strategies based on the data in the research. These strategies involve communication with the health care team and families, support services like transport services, and protocol use to manage pain (Baker et al., 2024). The goals of these strategies are to reduce delays in care as well as enhance treatment.

Analysis of Evidence

The first one – Schlenz et al. (2025) – is a qualitative study that explains the impediments and enablers of care in children with sickle cell disease. The research is credible, since it appears in a peer-reviewed journal and it was funded by the National Institutes of Health, which provided them with a certain assurance of conducting research. It can also be applied since it is directly related to some of the challenges that children with SCD face, like delays in care, access to care, and other care issues. Being qualitative in nature, it’s much more insightful as to the patient and family experience and should be thought about in terms of operational challenges.

Schieve et al. (2022) may be regarded as a quantitative research study since this study will focus on the role of applying recommended care measures in preventing complications in children with SCD. In my opinion, the study is a very good one as it is published in a highly-rated journal and has considered a vast amount of data sets. This is significant as it provides us with information on the effectiveness of preventive practise. It is more a quantitative, not a qualitative study, and thus suited to evidence-based practice better.

The third article is on the topic of care management, and the community nurse who has a patient with a chronic condition (Ge et al. 2023). It was a valid study as it was peer-reviewed and by expert authors. This can be applied to care management in SCD, as it talks about the significance of communication and support for caring for a person with a chronic illness. This study offers pragmatic knowledge of the effect of nursing interventions on care, compared to other resources.

All three studies are valid in general, though the quantitative study is more valid than the other two since it has a large sample and statistical analysis of the data. But the qualitative study (Schlenz et al. 2025) provides the much-needed context and insight into patients’ views and is essential for patient-centered care.

Conclusion

In conclusion, sickle cell disease poses a challenge to pediatric health care, such as pain and transitions of care. The involvement and engagement of nurses in a process is enhanced by the Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice model. It has evidence, exploration, and implementation in decision-making. This is through the provision of care problem solutions and the implementation of 5 care strategies. Thus, the optimal and patient-centered care heavily depends on EBP.