Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) are created by health organizations (e.g. Emergency Nurses Association, National Comprehensive Cancer Network) and focus on a specific topic (e.g., a disease, condition, or treatment). They are based on an established methodology that considers the best evidence to assist practitioners in making healthcare decisions.
VHA, in collaborations with the Department of Defense (DoD) and other leading professional organizations, has been developing clinical practice guidelines since the early 1990s. In 2010 the Institute of Medicine identified VA/DoD as leaders in clinical practice guideline development.
If you are a member of an association such as AANP, you may be able to access members-only practice tools like clinical practice guidelines.
Clinical Practice Guidelines in the Library
CINAHL (EBSCO) provides access to full-text CPGs.
To access, choose the "Practice Guidelines" limiter under "Document Type " and then search on your topic and use the subject and other limiters to narrow.
To find articles that discuss CPGs, conduct a keyword search in ProQuest Central or CINAHL and use the limiters to narrow further.
For example:
(CPGs OR "clinical practice guidelines")
AND (UTI OR "urinary tract infections")
FREE Clinical Practice Guidelines
Here are a few agencies providing open-access CPGs.
Guidelines developed or endorsed by the Academy are subject to periodic revision as warranted by the evolution of medical knowledge, technology and practice.
APA makes the practice guidelines freely available to promote their dissemination and use; however, copyright protections are enforced in full. No part of these guidelines may be reproduced except as permitted under Sections 107 and 108 of the United States Copyright Act. For permission for reuse, visit our Permissions and Licensing Center. Also visit PsychiatryOnline to access the guidelines and purchase the complete collection of guidelines and watches.
CPGs are created following the rigorous process described in ENA’s Guidelines for the Development of Clinical Practice Guidelines. The purpose of CPGs is to positively impact patient care in emergency nursing by bridging the gap between practice and currently available evidence.
While the Guidelines may be referred to by persons who are not employed by Health Canada, Health Canada takes no responsibility for any use of these guidelines other than by community health nurses employed by Health Canada and for their intended purposes.
A group of physicians that have developed a framework and rating system to evaluate therapies based on their patient-important benefits and harms as well as a system to evaluate diagnostics by patient sign, symptom, lab test or study.
Only use the highest quality, evidence-based studies (frequently, but not always Cochrane Reviews), and we accept no outside funding or advertisements.
VHA, in collaborations with the Department of Defense (DoD) and other leading professional organizations, has been developing clinical practice guidelines since the early 1990s. In 2010 the Institute of Medicine identified VA/DoD as leaders in clinical practice guideline development.
